Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Fire Fire!





Mrs. Schacter was a women who seen visions of fire on her way to Auschwitz. She was known to have "lost her mind" when she was separated from her family. On the third night of the journey to Auschwitz she began to scream "Fire! I see fire! I see fire!" Some of the women tried to calm her down and someone brought her a damp cloth to help her, but she continued to scream. The people thought she was hallucinating and she was possessed by an evil spirit. Her son sat next to her crying he had to of felt scared and wanted to help his mother but nothing could help her. The people were telling them to "keep her quiet, make that mad women shut up, she's not the only one here." The German police began to hit her in the head, as the boy clung to his mother he was no longer crying. As afternoon hit Mrs. Schacter remained huddled in her corner with her son stroking her hand trying to keep her calm. As night came she began screaming again. She pointed towards the same spot every time she screamed. The police hit her again with great strength, but she would still would not be quiet. Someone asked a German officer to take her to a hospital. The Jews could have treated Mrs. Schacter differently by treating her with respect. She was the only one that was treated badly because she was seeing the fire that wasn't even there. It was like she was seeing Auschwitz before she even got there. When they arrived there was actually a fire burning. No one believed her because she had been screaming through the nights so they thought she was possessed by the "evil spirits."

(McCool Group)
Shelby E., Nikki, Mike, Scott

9 comments:

Natasha said...

Uh hey guys, the German police did not beat Mrs. Schachter......just the Jews...

Jared Andrews said...

It was a good statement but i had one problem with it.The german police did not beat her. It was the the same jews that were in the cattle cars with her. When they stoped the jews asked to put her in the hospital car, but they were told in due time.

Missouri State Single Season Strikeout King said...

Nice details. However, the Jews were the ones in the cattle cars beating Mrs. Schacter.
I agree that she should have been treated with respect, but if I was in that situation, I can't see myself being too respectful of her either.

Samantha said...

Your answer was pretty good except the jews were the ones who beat her. Again, the jews chose not to believe what they were being told and a disasterous outcome was going to happen. It would be very hard to treat her with respect but i dont think that they should have beat her. Especially with her young son by her side watching everything that went on. They were already going through "hell" so they should have stuck together and not started fighting amongst themselves.

Constance said...

You guys seemed like you got you timeline messed up. In the beginning it was the Jews that beat her not the German police. I liked how you put in there that the Jews should have treated her with respect. But I think in that type of situation you would have beat on her too because you would have feared for your life. You guys did a good job.

student said...

Ummmm...they German officers never hit the old woman it was her fellow Jews who were trying to shut her up so that the German officers would not take out their fury on her. But I do like the statement you made about her seeing Auschwitz before she was even there, it shows some good writing talent to be able to infer something like that. But I mean if you had to be in a packed train with someone who was screaming about something that was not there would you be able to respect them? I know personally I would have to think they were crazy.

Whitney said...

The German police are not the ones who were beating her, it was her fellow jews to quiet her for the well being of everyone. I did like the detail you put into your answer. I'm not so sure you understood this chapter so well, maybe you should read it again.

Shelby E. said...

We meant the Jews. When we were discussing we must have typed it that way. We were talking about the German officers, we just messed it up a bit.

Shelby said...

Nice details guys. I would point out that the Jews were the ones that beat her, not the German Police, but you're probably sick of hearing that. Other than that it was a good post. I liked when you said " It was like she was seeing Auschwitz before she even got there." I came to that conclusion too. Weird isn't it, but very plausible. You're right, they could have treated her with more respect, instead of beating her out of their own fear and stress. In her own way she was simply trying to warn them of what was to come. One question remains, however. Did she or did she not understand the significance of what she was seeing and what it truly meant for her, her last living child, and all of her companions on the train? It's something to think about.