Michael Ceruolo's Blog: January 2011

My name is Michael Ceruolo and I am a senior at Westborough High School. This year I decided to take the course Facing History and Ourselves as one of my three electives. There were several reasons that caused me to make my decision to take this course. The first reason that I took this course was due to Mr. Gallagher’s high praise of the course. During my sophomore U.S. History class, Mr. Gallagher talked about the curriculum of the Facing History and Ourselves course. Though I will admit that my opinion of Mr. Gallagher influenced my choice to take the course, the majority of my decision was based on this curriculum which contained several elements of history that I had never learned about. My previous knowledge of the Holocaust was very minimal and Facing History and Ourselves allowed me to study the area much more in depth. Facing History is a course that through the use of a wide variety of primary sources, videos, and pictures causes those taking it to look more closely at themselves. Though it focuses heavily on the Holocaust, it also covers topics such as the Armenian and Rwandan Genocides. On top of these interesting topics, I have had a lot of friends that have taken this course. I can honestly say that not a single one of those who have taken the course have thought negatively of it. With a virtually perfect track record, interesting curriculum, and one of my favorite teachers teaching it, there was no doubt in my mind that Facing History and Ourselves course was the perfect course for me.

When I first sat down in Facing History and Ourselves, I had no clue what to expect. I had been told that its all about the Holocaust, but the first thing Mr. Gallagher did was point to the words directly above the whiteboard. They read: bystander, victim, perpetrator, and rescuer. Mr. Gallagher explained that in every conflict we are one of those. We are either hurt by the conflict, creating the conflict ourselves, helping solve the conflict, or simply watching the conflict and doing nothing. Within the first few minutes of class I remember playing every conflict that I had ever seen or been a part of back in my head, trying to figure out which category I fell under. While I tried to convince myself that I was the perfect rescuer, I knew that wasn’t true. I have witnessed so many conflicts in my life that I have just simply watched. To be honest, that moment of the class was one of the most influential in my opinion.

The Facing History and Ourselves course, while it is a course dedicated to history, causes its participants to question themselves and their choices. It isn’t simply one of those classes that you memorize all of the material and copy it from memory directly onto the page when the test comes along. It causes you to question what you believe in, your morals, your past choices, and your future ones.

The Facing History and Ourselves course was the first academic course that I have taken that wasn’t all about the tests and the quizzes. Instead I was asked about my opinion on topics, my feelings. The Facing History and Ourselves course was so different from the typical Westborough class and frankly it was so much better. I think that one of the benefits of hearing about everyone’s opinion on topics is it broadens your horizon. You cannot possibly define what opinion is right so every opinion is equally as correct and legitimate. Because of this, I believe that one of the major things that this course did for me was make me less judgmental. I don’t normally view myself as a very judgmental person, but I will roll my eyes at a stupid answer or raise my hand before someone even finishes answering if I know they’re wrong. In this course, however, you can’t do that because what makes your opinion any more valid than the next person’s opinion. I think that was one of the beauties of this course, the fact that you could say whatever you wanted and you weren’t graded or judged on its correctness.

This course also showed how little I knew about such topics such as the Holocaust. One film in particular was shown on one of the last days of the course. It detailed and showed the horrors of the concentration camps. I knew of Auschwitz and Dachau, but had no idea that there were that many concentration camps in Europe. This really shocked me and taught me so much more vital knowledge about this horrific time. Also, one of the videos that we watched described the conversation Hitler had with his Generals when they decided to systematically kill the Jewish people. One of the Generals was so disturbed by this that he actually left the table to go throw up. Also, the clips involving the Hitler Youth and the way that they were brainwashed disturbed me greatly and explained a lot about the dedication of these Nazis. I had always believed that all Nazis were terrible people, but these videos and course showed the Nazi point of view in depth and completely shattered my preconceived beliefs about this group of people.

I was also incredibly shocked by the movie “Uprising”. I had always thought that the Jewish people went peacefully and I had always questioned why there was such little resistance. After watching this video, my view of the Jewish people and their struggles was much more in depth. I now realize that even when they fought back the Jewish people were killed, perhaps even faster than if they hadn’t fought back.

The Facing History and Ourselves course taught me so much more than just who was involved in the Holocaust. It showed me what it was like to be both a Nazi and a Jewish person being discriminated against because their religion. It showed me the motives for both sides. One of the major concepts that left me questioning myself was the question of whether or not we would be in the Hitler Youth if we lived in that time. After considering both options, I realized that I would definitely join the Hitler Youth. Before this course, I always believed that all Nazis were terrible people, yet here I was admitting that I would also be one if I lived in that era.

Perhaps one of the most influential aspects of this course for me did not even occur in the classroom. When I attended the Facing History and Ourselves meeting, a man that survived the Rwandan Genocide spoke briefly about his life and the hardship he has faced. While I think it’s important to learn about past history, this man took this course to a whole new level for me. I realized that similar events that occurred almost 100 years ago were happening almost present day. A creepy thought, and yet at the same time, I realized the importance of this course. While some may believe that it’s simply about the Holocaust because it was an important time in history, I realized that this course was about the Holocaust because similar atrocities are still affecting us today and we have the power to stop it. I mentioned at the beginning of this post the four categories of people: bystander, victim, perpetrator, and rescuer. Where I found myself originally falling into the category of bystander, I can honestly say that more and more I realize that this course has altered me. I recently stood up for a student who was getting bullied something I do not believe I would have done a year ago. I believe that I am a rescuer and I am proud that this course has helped me to achieve that status.

Michael Ceruolo's Blog

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Introduction

What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me

Works Cited