 |
| Gerda Weissmann, age 16, in a Nazi identification photograph. When she was liberated, Gerda weighed only 68 pounds, had not bathed in three years, and her hair had turned white. |
 |
| Kurt Klein, an American soldier who came upon the abandoned women in Volary, gave this photo to Gerda. The two were married in 1946, and had three children and eight grandchildren. |
"Why? Why did we walk like meek sheep to the slaughterhouse? Why did we not fight back? What had we to lose? Nothing but our lives. Why did we not run away and hide? We might have had a chance to survive. Why did we walk deliberately and obediently into their clutches? I know why. Because we had faith in humanity. Because we did not really think that human beings were capable of committing such crimes." -- From All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein
In class, we read and talked about the poem, "The Divine." The video showed us those in Gerda's life, who, in the midst of the Nazi persecution, showed compassion. (Frau Kugler, Merin, and of course, Kurt Klein).
In the comments section, please write one example of something that gives you "faith in humanity" today. (It might be something you see here at school, in the media, in the community, etc.) Write about one step YOU can take to illustrate or encourage "faith in humanity." How can you put "faith in humanity" into action and make this school, town, and world a better place? Use complete sentences and be mindful of writing rules.
*Lesson plan courtesy of Teaching Tolerance One Survivor Remembers Teacher's Guide, pages 42-43.
I don't have faith in humanity...#GoAliens! One way i could have faith in humanity would be if countries didn't threat other countries for no reason (North Korea), even know we could take them out. To make the world a better place, people need to be peaceful and nice to one another.
ReplyDeleteI will always have faith in humanity because whatever happens we are all human. One way I see the faith in humanity is when my dad was at a gas station in a different state and his credit card stopped working. A man near by saw that his card wasn't working and he gave my dad gas money. We where lucky someone was nice enough to help my dad out and didn't leave him stranded. We show that there is faith in humanity by volunteering anywhere. It would put faith in humanity and it would show that we care.
ReplyDeleteI have faith in humanity. There are plenty of good people out there and if you don't have faith in humanity you don't believe in yourself. I admit war is not humane. I think we need to stop fighting there has been way to much blood spilled we have been fighting sense we were created. Don't you think we should stop one day and just make peace.
ReplyDeleteMy faith in humanity is slowly draining, I still think there are some good people out there somewhere, but for the most part it's just dumb people roaming the streets. Maybe if a certain country would stop making null threats of nuclear war (I'm looking at you, North Korea) the world wouldn't be as bad.
ReplyDeleteI still have faith in humanity, because I believe people out there are nice and caring towards other humans. But its hard to believe this because of all the people only thinking about themselves and not others.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a lot of faith in humanity left in me. i think that i could join the army some day to help protect our country and make the world a better place (North Korea...).
ReplyDeleteOops i forgot to capitalize my "I"'s sorry Mrs. Mcdermott
ReplyDeleteAUGH!! I did it again
DeleteWell, at least you caught it... twice... :)
DeleteI have a lot of faith in humanity because I know there are a lot of caring and generous people out there . one way I see faith in humanity is like this weekend when my dad was sitting out side and my neighbor fell down and broke his arm my dad was there write away to help him out and stayed next to him tell help came on its way. and one way we can show humanity around school or town is helping others like volunteering.
ReplyDeleteI have faith in humanity because there are always some bad people in this world but for every bad person there is at least 2 good people. Although, one example that humanity could be slowly failing is all the wars that are going around in the world right now, there may not be wars in North America (Not yet) but in other parts of the world like Africa, Asia, Europe, there are tons of wars going on every day. I can also put faith in humanity by helping at my house a little more often, it might not be much but it dosn't take much to have more faith.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is faith in humanity in this world, it's just that some people are losing it. There are so many new electronics and distractions that are leading us to not knowing how to communicate with adults any more. We spend so much time on things like this, that we don't realize all the amazing things happening around us. Including the little precious moments that we might happen to miss. I think there would be more faith in humanity in this world, if families connected with each other more. For example, they could go out for dinner and not bring any electronics and just talk. My parents are always telling me that when they were little they didn't have any of the things I do now. Now, because of this, they we're probably better at talking to adults and more sincere. I believe our world can go back to being like this if we just turn of the screens sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a thoughtful answer! Thank you!
DeleteI still have faith in humanity because of an experience I had. I dropped my phone in the street without knowing it. I thought it was gone but then an old couple came up to me and handed me my phone. To restore faith in humanity I could help people with the little things.
ReplyDeleteSomething that gives me faith in humanity is when I go to church and I hear all of these true stories of people helping other people in different countries because of hurricanes or things like that, and most of those people are volunteering to help. Also everyone at my church that gives offering and donations to people in need of it, it is truly inspiring to see that in a person. I want to be like that and help people in need for all different reasons, whether its just being a friend or donating money.
ReplyDeleteI have faith in humanity. is like the Boston marathon. when people ran the extra 2 miles to donate blood and they gave so much they couldn't take any more! and people helped one another worked together and church is another thing because hearing all the stories and stuff gives me hope humanity will stay strong.
ReplyDeleteSomething that give me faith and humanity is when, When i come home from school knowing that my family would be their for me anytime i need them with their enjoyment around and their laughter that always fills me with joy. To encourage faith is to try to make the world a better place by recycling, helping others in need, giving food to people who need it, and also being nice and caring and doing what is right.
ReplyDeleteWhat gives me faith in humanity is when i see police officers or firefighters in the community or helping people. To try to encourage faith in humanity my family and i go to homeless shelters on Christmas Day and serve people,
ReplyDeleteSomething that gives me faith in humanity is if I have a bad day at school, I know I can come home to my family and they will support me 100% of the time. If I am feeling sad, angry or lonely I know my family will always find a way to cheer me up. My family and I help out at homeless shelters and go and help at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). This is how I encourage faith in humanity.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about the Holocaust I was really shocked at how somebody could kill all those people who were not like them, and then go and kill themselves because they knew what they had done was wrong. And they also knew that they were probably going to be put through the same thing, which they knew was going to hurt. When the Americans and British came to help it made me feel like people actually do care about what is happening to people who are different then them. This led me to believe that the idea that gives me faith in humanity is the willingness of others to stand up for the people being attacked and to put themselves in danger to save another persons life. An example of this is when the Haiti earthquake happened everybody came from all over the world to support the people there that were starving, hurt, lost, and even lonely. I can illustrate this by standing up for the people at school who are being hurt like the ones who I feel are different than me, but also the people who may not have anyone that will help them.
ReplyDeletewhat gives me faith in humanity is when I go to church on Wednesdays and we go to a soup kitchen once a month and go volunteer at Feed my Starving Children(FMSC). All the people that volunteer at the church like when I work in the kids ministry or VBS. Also, when people give offering at church. I hope someday that I can help more people and donate and volunteer for more activities in the community.
ReplyDeletesomething that gives me faith in humanity, an example is I was walking through the school one day when I was tripped by someone rushing past not paying attention. I had several books and papers in my hand that spilled all over the floor. I was struggling to gather all of my things when someone I did not know stopped to help me. slowing down and taking time to notice your surroundings can help you be aware of others in need. I would encourage kids to slow down and take notice of people in the halls, a smile can go a long way. saying hello gets you noticed and encourages people to have a positive response.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that helps with having faith in humanity is, knowing that all over the world there are people who starve to death. Feed My Starving Children is another way to help with that cause.
ReplyDeletethe one thing that helps humanity is helping the people that don't have much to live by. i help people when they are down by cheering them up.
ReplyDeleteI feel that faith in humanity could be almost anything. From paying for the car in front of you at a drive through to being in the army. Defending your country is amazing as well as caring for homeless people or starving children. We are all human and we arent perfect but we all need to work together and stay together, because when we do we can achieve the impossible.
ReplyDelete