Final Essay - Reflecting (Dane Wommack)

Final Essay - Reflecting

Albino Farm - Dane Wommack

Holocaust Testimony: Kristine Karen - Dane Wommack

Dr. Kristine Karen was born in Poland, 1939. She describes her childhood as very extravagant, living in a modern apartment before the war, with two bathrooms and a fancy piano her mother played. In a thick accent she says “I was very happy girl!” Her father had a P.D in history and kept up with current events very frequently. It was this reason he was able to help them escape when Germany began to occupy Poland. When the Nazi's moved in, Kristine Karen and her family were forced to move out of their nice apartment and spent the next few years moving around to overcrowded apartments with other Jewish families. During this time, Kristine met a nice Nazi general in charge of keeping the area they lived in under watch. He told her she reminded him of his daughter he left home in Germany and brought her chocolate and other sweets to help her feel better. However, soon after, the families were starting to be evacuated out of the ghetto. Kristine's dad knew they had to get out of there and talked to a man named Savoy. Savoy informed him, that Kristine's family could hide in the sewers until the war was over, but it would cost them a lot of money. Kristine's dad gladly agreed to this and started to move his family into the sewers. They lived there with 10 other Jewish people for 14 months, eating bread once a day while keeping the rats away and telling each other jokes to keep each other happy. After 14 months, the family emerged from the sewer and went back to their daily lives with the war being over. However, Kristine was still teased for being a Jew during school and as a result, had to fool everyone in her class that she was a Christian. When she tried to find Savoy, the man who saved her and her family and hid them in the sewers, she discovered he was killed by a drunk driver while riding his bicycle with his daughter. He pushed her out of the way and suffered the injuries as a result. "His blood was dripping through the manhole. My mother always said he was an angel sent to save our lives." Kristine eventually graduated from a renown college in Israel and became a dentist in the United States, married to her husband, who was also a holocaust survivor who happened to live across the street from her as a child.
"I was very happy girl." - Kristine Karen
"His blood was dripping through the manhole. My mother always said he was an angel sent to save our lives." - Kristine Karen

Holocaust Testimony: Henry Mikols - Dane Wommack

Henry Mikols grew up in Poland as a Catholic. His father worked with silent movies. As a child, Henry was very interested with America because of Woodrow Wilson and Charlie Chaplin, who both had big influences in his life. Henry and his father discovered the war was escalating by watching the planes fly overhead. One day, after the Germans moved in, Henry went to pick up bread for his family. On his way there he was stopped by a German officer and it was the last time he ever saw his parents. The officer took Henry to a train station to Germany to work in German farms. While on the farm, he worked for no pay and was fed very poorly. He was eventually arrested for talking bad about the German government (anti-nazi propaganda) and was sent to the work concentration camp "Brukenvar". There, he was placed in an experimental group and given pills and potatoe salad filled with typhoid. His friends all died from typhoid fever, but he survived due to taking a different pill he was offered by a German scientist. When the war ended, the allies had freed him from the camp and he immediately moved to England, eager to pursue his dream to live in America. It was there that he wrote letters to New York and was sponsored to come to America by a free trip and tell his story to American college students. He still had nightmares from the concentration camp, but was able to move on with his life and live happily afterwards, living with his wife and daughter in New Hampshire. He worked as a carpenter and eventually moved his way up to becoming an architect.
"I joked with my friend, I hope they serve it to Adolf on a platter." - Henry Mikols when speaking of the Germans taking their feces and sending it to Berlin when sick with Typhoid fever.
"I don't know why I lived today. Maybe because I'm one of the chosen ones and need to tell my story to all of the world." - Henry Mikols

A Response to "A Film Unfinished" by Dane Wommack

I felt this film was a very strong and realistic portrayal of how the Jews were treated during World War 2. Hearing what all the survivors had to say was also very interesting and sad to hear. I think one of the biggest things we can learn from the holocaust and from this film, is to just love one another and treat everyone as best as we can, even in hard times. When life gets tough, we often try to find scapegoats to place the blame on. As humans, we've done this a lot in the past, from segregation in the early to mid-1900s to the harsh treatment of illegal immigrants in our country now. It's human nature to repeat our mistakes and continue to make them, but I think it's best to make a strong effort in going against it.
I also found it very sad that the Jews had to bury their own and carry out a lot of the labor in carrying the bodies. This would be very morbid for anyone to have to attend to their own group of people in such a manner. Desensitizing themselves and ignoring others in trouble would be one of the only ways to cope with such an event. In order to take care of others you have to take care of yourself first. Normally seeing a child’s body on the street would have some effect in people passing by, but in a place of such poverty and suppression there’s not a whole lot one can do.
Overall, despite it being a very depressing way for me to start my morning, it was educational and necessary in teaching sympathy and to spark the passion to prevent such things from happening in the future, should that need arise.

Harrison Bergeron Single Paragraph

Harrison Bergeron Single Paragraph

Dane Wommack - I Am From

I Am From

Intro

Hey class, I'm a goofy guy who enjoys writing and playing music of all kinds as a main hobby. My instruments of expertise include piano, guitar, bass guitar and violin. I played bass in a local band for a little while and really enjoyed it. From time to time I also enjoy editing films and making home movies.

For what brings home the bacon, I work at Wommack Foods grocery store here in Springfield located just off of Chestnut Expressway on North Grant, a little west of OTC. Crazy stuff happens there all the time, so stop by for free entertainment.

I have 3 sisters, 1 older, 2 younger, and a pet bassett name Axel Von Bassett (Mostly just called Axel though.)