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January 2010 Edition
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Characterization of the
Human Spirit
By: Chuck Weinblatt
As
the author of a Holocaust novel ("Jacob's Courage"), I appreciate books that
offer a frank, emotional examination of morality. Repugnance, despair and
darkness exist within human nature. We therefore learn nothing about
ourselves if we do not examine this part of our psyche.
The Holocaust also can offer a love story, filled with passion and romance.
During the twelve years of the Shoah, Jewish prisoners of Nazi Germany met,
fell in love, became parents, watched their loved ones disappear and fought
a desperate battle to remain alive.
They were victims of incomprehensible brutality. Only a few of them
survived.
“Jacob’s Courage” explores the complex relationships between
humans during the Holocaust. It is a terrifying, unrelenting nightmare and
an ecstatic, breathless tale of faith, courage and passion.
There are six million stories about the Holocaust. All of them are unique.
All of them provide texture, complexity and perspective. We are complex
beings. There is a great deal more to us than the ubiquitous battleground of
good versus evil. We are not one or the other, but a combination of both. We
are beautiful and ugly, soothing and terrifying, brutal and caring; we love
and we despise.
Deep within the fear and panic of the
Holocaust decisions were based upon ethical and emotional veracity. Unlike
animals, humans are governed by principles, moral beliefs and sincerity.
We are not clouded by delusions of morality, but governed by them. In
"Jacob's Courage," my characters explore the human response to terror and
immorality, as well as the alluring beauty of passionate young love, along
with the driving power of religious devotion.
Our lives are complex - even within the garish midst of the Holocaust.
Powerful passion and tender love existed during times of horror and despair.
So did a deep commitment to the Jewish relationship between faith and God.
These powerful motivators churn within the consciousness of Holocaust
victims, creating powerful new behaviors. Yet, the world is seldom seen in
black and white, or shades of gray - even during the Holocaust. In the midst
of anguish, beauty exists. Within beauty, despair dwells. Life is
experienced as layer upon layer of sensory input, interpreted by our moral
compass and defined though our ensuing behavior.
In prior genocides against Jews, there was often an alternative to death –
conversion. If Jews would just cease to believe in one God, or if Jews would
just renounce their beliefs and accept Christ as the messiah, they could
live. Yet, each time that this has occurred in history, the vast majority of
Jews refused to capitulate. Those Jews preferred to be burned at the stake,
tortured or beheaded, rather than renounce their dedication to the one true
God. With Nazi Germany, there was no such choice. Instead of souls to be
reclaimed, the German government declared that Jews were similar to rodents,
who “infest the true Aryan culture and deserve to be exterminated.”
Nazi Germany did not allow for the possibility that Jews possessed a soul
(certainly not one that deserved to be eternal). Sadly, the gentile
population of Europe largely did not object to the systematic extermination
of their Jewish neighbors. They watched with mildly disinterested eyes as
Jews were forced out of their homes and into ghettos. After that, no one
seemed to care.
Holocaust survivors lost everything, but perhaps gained something as well.
Certainly an honest examination of the Holocaust must reveal torturous
brutality and death. Virtually all of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust
were guilty of no crime (except to be a Jew). By the end of the war, almost
every Holocaust survivor had lost all of their loved ones. Such despair must
be worse than psychological death. However, life is not always so simple.
And the experience of Jews during the Shoah was not that of cattle going to
market. These were not rodents or cows, but families from every location,
occupation and lifestyle. They possessed memories, loves, relationships and
the heritage of an ancient religion.
Deep within the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, European Jews practiced
their religion, observed holidays and commandments, taught their children
Hebrew and imparted Jewish values. The entrapped Jews of the Holocaust
maintained the facade of their 3,500-year culture, for the sake of their
children. Here, in the fetid, crowded walls of concentration camp
structures, one can feel hope for the survival of the human spirit, among
the ashes of annihilation.
In this age of realism, readers demand multifaceted, often chaotic
individuals who possess characteristics both good and bad. They are right.
Because that’s the way life is.
If novelists wish to emulate reality, then our characters should become
complex humans, with flaws, faults, imperfections and limitations. Some of
our villains should possess mercy and empathy, as well. And, no emotion
influences us more than guilt.
In “Jacob’s Courage,” my characters were
constantly aggravated by guilt. We are forever tortured by our past and
guilt is the primary motivator in decisions about our future. We can ignore
it or learn from it, but we can never escape from it.
Holocaust victims were faced with the most perfidious forces; deceit,
brutality, cruelty, sickness, starvation and the death of loved-ones were
the daily companions of concentration camp prisoners. The victims felt guilt
for surviving while their loved ones had been murdered. Each of them must
have wondered why they deserved to live when those that they worshipped were
murdered. Worse yet were the prisoners who assisted the Nazi guards. These "kapos"
must have born unwavering guilt.
The "Sonderkommando," prisoners forced to
undress, beat, torture, and kill innocent prisoners must have had the
greatest amount of guilt. They were also forced to carry bodies to the
furnace. Sometimes, a Jew was forced to feed the dead bodies of his
immediate family into the fires of the crematoria. Can you imagine being
forced to murder and then destroy the bodies of your loved ones?
In "Jacob's Courage," the title character was forced to play in the
Auschwitz orchestra as the trains daily disgorged new prisoners, primarily
consisting of Jewish families. The ubiquitous innocent queue, waiting their
turn to die, constantly occupied his thoughts and dreams. The worst part was
watching the Jewish children romp and play, just a few feet away from the
gas chamber and their premature death. Many such survivors carried lifelong
guilt for surviving, while subconsciously, many must surely have wished for
that death with their loved ones.
Novels about this time are by causality dark and precarious. Yet, in the
midst of this despair, there was life, love, passion, religious fervor and
the excitement known only to children. Even in such hopeless desolation,
there was faith, infatuation, romance, excitement and longing for all of the
things that humans crave. These characters must embellish the wide range of
human attributes and feelings. Such was the complex state of living in a
Nazi death camp.
"Jacob's Courage" describes the Holocaust through the eyes of a normal
Jewish family. If we speak only of heroic individuals battling against dark
forces, then we dismiss the certainty of our nature. Humans are far more
complex than such generic descriptions imply. Not all Jews imprisoned and
tortured by Nazi Germany were good. Some became "kapos," more ruthless than
the SS.
Not all Germans were bad. Some Germans were riddled with guilt; and
later expressed tender compassion for the imprisoned Jews. Yet, below the
surface of brutality, we find the human instinct for life, liberty, love and
compassion. We also find the mind of those filled with ruthless barbarity
and hostile aggression. This book explores the boundaries of this human
expression.
Most of the Jews in Nazi concentration camps comprehended that they would
not survive. Yet, within the camps, the Jews constructed synagogues,
schools, and orchestras. They had civic leaders, medical clinics, commerce
and religious celebrations. Hidden from the SS, Holocaust Jews observed all
of the covenants and rituals of their religion, including holidays, marriage
ceremonies, burials and circumcisions.
Along the terrifying, dark path to
the gas chambers of Nazi-occupied Europe, Jews lived, loved, learned and
died. Even in their darkest moments, the Jews of Nazi concentration camps
fabricated a "normal" life.
Despite their impending mortality, they recreated a normal world on the
inside to protect children from the raging genocide on the outside. Such was
the nature and power of their love. They recognized that Judaism couldn’t
survive without Jewish children. Unlike concentration camps, the isolation
of prisoners in death camps made such religious interaction difficult, if
not impossible.
The Holocaust cannot be described without inflicting horror upon the reader.
Such books are not for the faint of heart. The human spirit strives for
autonomy and freedom. Yet, to search for an understanding of human nature,
one must descend into the depths of depravity and terror. We cannot
understand humankind without comprehending its wicked flaws.
Deep within the darkest recesses of brutal genocide, the reader will
discover a faint flicker of light representing love, passion, desire, hope
and reverence. Here is the essence of "Jacob's Courage" - an examination of
morality, love and righteousness, in the midst of the dark whirlwind of
malevolence.
About the Author:
Charles S. Weinblatt was born
in Toledo, Ohio in 1952. He is a retired University of Toledo administrator.
Weinblatt is the author of "Jacob's Courage" and "Job Seeking Skills for
Students."
His biography appears in the Marquis Who's Who in America and Who's Who in
American Education. Weinblatt was a frequent Toledo television news guest,
providing business, economic and labor-management insight.
He received the 2004 United Auto Worker’s Douglas Frasier Swift Award and he
was awarded a certificate of achievement by Chrysler Corporation.
Weinblatt writes novels, short stories and published articles.
He lives in Ohio with his
wife Fran, who is a special education teacher. They have two adult children,
Brian and Lauren, who created the cover art for "Jacob's Courage."
Please visit:
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/
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