Post-Holocaust literature was once thought of
as something that was impossible to do. During a period of such turmoil poetry
and literature were thought of as pleasures that were now useless or at the
very least impractical. But writing can sometimes serve as cathartic and the
writing by Jewish authors in a post-Holocaust world has also served as a
viewfinder into a world that generations after may never know otherwise.
The stories featured this week
were sometimes painful to read but in a society where the present echoes the
past seemed almost necessary to be read. They broached a certain level of
empathy and connectivity that many students may not have without visiting the
Holocaust museum or having a direct connection to such events.
And while a lot of students may
have read all or at least a portion of “The Diary of Anne Frank” there is still
a lot to be learned from other works, particularly works of fiction which allow
the reader to be further able to picture themselves as the character instead of
feeling almost instantly as if the very thing they’re reading is happening to
someone they love.
In “This
Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, we as the audience are presented with a
first-hand glimpse into what it may have been like for someone working at a
concentration camp. In a rare move, the story is told from the point of view of
someone who is not of Jewish descent themselves but an outsider looking in, of
someone who has to be part of the clean up crew in a very grotesque and
traumatic event. This character, we see in future passages is someone who has
been put through an evil no one should have to face, one that has led him to
resent the very people who have been sent there to die.
Humanity is a gift we must hold onto
with all we have because if pushed we can lose it in a heartbeat.
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