The BBC Flew a Drone Over Auschwitz — And the Result Is Haunting
Click here for video - for higher quality
Seventy years after the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the pre-eminent symbol of the Holocaust's horrors, the BBC is giving the world a chance to see the haunting ruins as they've never seen it before.
The BBC deployed a camera-equipped drone over site, offering a chilling tour of where as many as 1.1 million people died at the hands of Nazis between 1940 and 1945. Located in southern Poland, it was the largest death camp under Adolf Hitler's "final solution."
While images of Auschwitz have permeated popular culture, the under three-minute video gives a sense of the scale of the Nazi regime's systematic murder. The footage shows the railroad tracks that brought people in, the red roofs of the prison blocks where "inmates" were forced to do slave labor and the Birkenau wooden huts where the Nazis executed prisoners. Perhaps the most daunting part, however, were the camp's entrance gates that displayed the German phrase "Arbeit macht frei," or "Work sets you free."
The release of the footage coincides with Tuesday's official memorial service making the 70th anniversary since Auschwitz was freed by the Soviets. Steven Spielberg spoke in the ceremony in Poland on Monday night, which was attended by 100 survivors.
The End of Maus II - Discussion
Feel free to comment on the video I posted. But coming back to the book, there are a lot of small details that we should bring up, which I will list. But I also want us to take a moment to also reflect. I want to know everyone's final thoughts on the book overall and what parts were most memorable for them.
CHAPTER 2 (Auschwitz - Time Flies)
- We see Art with a mouse mask on sitting at his desk talking about the day his father dies. This is the first time we actually see him in human form, imitating a mouse (to keep his disguise). Why is he choosing to finally show himself now? As the book becomes more popular, more and more reporters ask him questions he doesn't know how to answer. Why does he revert back to a child-like state? Calling for mommy?
- Is there a reason his shrink, Pavel, is represented as a human, disguise with a mouse mask as well? Is there a reason Pavel is portrayed to look very much like his father Vladek? Then throughout their talk, Art, reverts back to a child. Then following their talk, he slowly grows back into an adult. What is this representing?
CHAPTER 3 (...And here my troubles began...)
- What is the underlying meaning toward Vladek's blatant disregard to Art and his wife desire to leave soon?
- We start to see new "animals" aka (other races of people) in this chapter. The frog (french) and a black dog (american). Vladek becomes somewhat friends with the french man but is very racist against the black hitchhiker Francoise picks on alongside the road. Why is Vladek's view on this so monumental?
CHAPTER 4 (Saved)
- There is a style of frame on page 276 that hasn't been used before. Vladek is sitting on the couch with the only pictures left of his family. The one image of Vladek sitting fills up almost the whole page but is segregated by gutters to break up his different comments about the photos. Why did Spiegelmen choose this style of frame to represent this conversation? Is it the most effective method?
CHAPTER 5 (The Second Honeymoon)
- The last frame....we all know it....Vladek call's Art, "Richieu." We need to talk about that....
- There are so so many underlying and overlapping theories of why he unconsciously called him by his dead son's name. It shows where Vladek's mental state was when he finally told a happy part of his life story. And that happy moment was being told to Richieu, not Art. By telling his happy moment out loud to Art was like stimulating feelings he didn't know he had towards Richieu. Then in Art's perspective, he knows where is father's mind has been for many years. Since Vladek was starting to loose his memory at the end, some like to think you can be more honest with yourself. The battle Art had with his dead brother now resurfaced in the worst possible way, by his father. It just reinstates the sibling rivalry between the two sons which was put there in the first place by the parents.
So once you pick a couple topics from the chapters I listed above, or some I didn't mention, also talk about your final thoughts on the book.
1. I think that Speigelman wants to show us that racism is not universal to white people, which it is not. We tend to believe that racism is exclusive because it is what we are told to believe, but anyone anywhere at any time can be racist. We would think that Vladek would be the least racist person on the planet, but how much of Hitler’s propaganda did he actually believe. Vladek never has a ‘this was so unjust moment,’ or even seem to be angry about what happened. He accepts it maybe because he feels that it is the lot of the Jewish people to endure hardship or maybe because he felt that the Germans did this because they were jealous of the Jews. We don’t know, but he does feel that because of what they endured they are the ‘better’ people. Yet he loves his daughter-in-law and seems to respect her…why this is it is hard to say. Perhaps because of the French Jew he met at the camps, perhaps because she seems to be a nice girl. He doesn’t tell us, but he shows us that he is just as biased as anyone else. He treats the dog badly whether because of his hipster lifestyle (a hitchhiker) or because he is black we are not clear, but he has his own set of personal biases.
ReplyDelete2. The frame choice on page 276 doesn’t really bother me. If I get to voice my own opinion, which I obviously do, I think it is because Speigelman wants to show more detail than a 1 ½ x 2 ½ square will allow. Vladek’s family was scattered to the wind and only he and one cousin survived. Just like the pictures on the floor are scattered so too were his family and only the picture in his hand remains.
3. The final frame is representative or many things – the end of the story, the end of the book, the end of Vladek. By calling Art – Richieu – Art has shown us that by the end of the story Vladek’s memory is going. He is getting old and he is fading away, thus the tombstone at the bottom of the page. I find it eloquent. I have read many accounts of people seeing their dead loved ones at the end of their lives. My own mother swore her grandmother had visited her in the hospital, but her grandmother had been dead for 32 years or more.
In regard to the book as a whole I found the entire book haunting. The frame where the mice were surrounded by black smoke with their noses raised to the sky reminded me of the rabbits in Watership Down as they were being suffocated in their dens. It is a horrifying image that can follow a person into their dreams. Vladek’s ability to cope with death standing next to him each day as a friend or relative and still have hope is quite a testament to his strength of mind. The whole thing is quite a tale and it was definitely worthy of the retelling. Having read it I cannot imagine that it would be better read in any other format. The comic aspect gives a picture of what people actually went through and is very hard to visual without these pictorial references.
Maus II
ReplyDeleteChapter 2- I believe that he chooses to show himself wearing a mask after releasing the first part of his father’s tale because he himself is questioning who he himself is. He drew each group of people as different animals and he himself, like his father and the rest of the Jewish characters, were drawn as mice. I see him wearing a mask in these scenes as a transition into him questioning if he deserves to be a mouse like his father. He later on in the book talks about how incredible it was for his father to survive, so maybe he is questioning if he deserves to be thrown into that group of people. Maybe he questions his overall purpose in this adaption. The reason he returns to this childlike state is that he is overwhelmed by questions of things he wasn’t ready for. He spent such a long time learning of his father’s life and adapting it into a story for the world to see that he still feels like might not fit in to this roll as a story teller. He isn’t the type of person in the first place to what so much attention from what I’ve seen, but I feel as if this transformation is something that makes him question his overall place in his father’s story. Like “Can I really be in the limelight for something this outstanding?”
Chapter 3- I believe that Vladek’s view of the world is somewhat skewed. He spent a grand portion of his life being treated a certain way based on his religion and seeing him treat the black hitchhiker like the way the German’s treated him, it shows that he might not have thought of his time in the Holocaust as personal. He seems like an overall caring person for others, but when someone does something wrong to him, he tends to make things personal. Being in the Holocaust must have sensitized his personality to make him more judgmental to people with a certain way of life.
Chapter 5- In the final frame, Vladek calling his son Richieu is a perfect representation of his mental state. Vladek has been telling his story for a long time to his son. They’ve somewhat become closer and his father who has always looked to Richieu as the symbol of the perfect son, now could possibly see Art as the same. Yeah, his father has been forgetting things, but I see it as a sort of appreciation for everything that Art has done for Vladek. He cares for his son so much and his life has all but lead up to his son telling his story.
I think that the mouse-mask aspect of this book was one of the most clever parts. It was a good way of showing the master over his creation. He is bringing attention to the fact that these mice aren't really mice, they're people. He's also bringing attention to the fact that he is the one who put on the mask. He put masks on all of these people in his first book and not they are hugely popular. The masks in the first book are never seen however, so it is easy to not realize that they're there. Depicting humans as mice is a good way of making a metaphor for the dehumanization of the jews, and it works because it in itself is dehumanizing. When you see that the psychiatrist is also in a mouse mask, it is showing that we all are wearing masks all the time, but perhaps we can't see them. I think that Art is saying that his psychiatrist is Jewish, and that if he were a part of his comic book world he would be depicted as a mouse. It is an intersting way to distinguish between what is happening right now vs. what is happening in Art's version of Vladek's version of the events of WWII.
ReplyDeleteThe unique frames on pg. 276 were one of my favorite stylistic elements of this book. I think that although it was in the same art style of the book, these frames highlighted the realness of the scene. We are given several frames to ponder over what is the same picture. This feels very cinematic, the way that your eye is forced to linger on one thing while the story moves onward. It is a very interesting device, and very effective in it's one usage. I think that the effectiveness of this device would be weakened if it were used more than just this once.
From chapter 4:
ReplyDeleteI noticed the stylistic change that you refer to during the family photos scene and I think it stood out to you (and me as well) because there’s actually not a lot of frame variance in Maus. The standard throughout the series is for the images to stay contained in relatively uniform squares and rectangles, even when things narratively get pretty intense.
This section is kind of working through the constraints of the comic medium in an interesting way. We know that comics are static images and that we can linger on a panel so long as there is text on a panel, but I think for the sake of the story it wasn’t necessarily essential for us to know the tiny histories of all the family in the photos. We never will see or interact with these characters again, so to devote pages and pages of material to them isn’t so much important. The photos actually allow Vladek’s narration to show through, but the overlay cramps the words, almost obscuring them. Visually this makes me feel like the ghost of the photograph is thematically the focus more so than the details of the tragedies. And we actually end with heaps and heaps of photographs at the end—so many people, so many lost stories, but no words for them. There are so many people lost, but their presence is reduced to a photograph, and their stories are reduced to many sighs. It’s a heavy section—I found it effective, but almost too much considering the course the narrative would take. It felt almost cinematic (maybe like a montage sequence would play out?) and the build up to the pile at the bottom of 114 could easily be imagined animated.
On chapter 5:
Believe it or not I didn’t actually notice that he called him by a different name until I read these questions later on—and no, it was not because I was not devoting enough attention to the text! (Though I like everyone else am guilty of multitasking from time to time). I think my brain didn’t raise alarm bells at this moment simply because it felt natural—it didn’t really feel jarring because I (likely like Vladek) associated Richieu with Vladek’s old life as opposed to his “new” start (e.g. his move to America and having a second son). As outsiders we can almost draw a line through differentiating Vladek’s trauma/post-trauma existence. Art occupies his post-trauma existence, but even though Vladek and Art were in body in the present, Vladek’s mind was actively in the past since he was recounting so many memories from his active trauma existence (the last being his reunion with Anja). Richieu obviously occupies that active trauma existence that Art does not belong to—in his weak state, this is likely why his name came out over Art’s. And this is a justifiable thought, if we think that Vladek is under the strain of post-traumatic stress disorder.
In a literary sense, we can of course further speculate the thematic significance—perhaps Art’s feelings of inadequacy are simply cemented here with the ultimate final dismissal from his father. I feel a little less like inclining toward this reading because of his father’s want of Art to take care of him in his final days and because his switch to terms of endearment after Mala leaves (but I suppose that could have simply been manipulative—we can’t really know). It’s strange to try to ascribe meaning like that onto a real-life body and a true narrative in the first place, though.
ReplyDeleteI think Art, finally having reality hit him that his father is gone, wants to show his true self, but imitating a mouse to keep him at a certain hidden level we can’t completely comprehend. I think when he reverts back to a child-like state, and calls for his mommy, at this time he needs a shoulder to cry on, and it’s only human for the first person you want to call to comfort you, be your mother, because she is the source of comfort and support for you through everything, and him losing her at such a young age, and then losing his father, invoked his need to be comforted and held by his mommy.
It is an interesting turn in the story when we start to see different races(animals), it is bringing us closer to the start of races integrating and how they deal with one another. Because of Vladek’s experience with the black man who stole from him, he comes off as racist because he holds onto the thought that all black men steal and he will be robbed again. I believe this is monumental because Vladek, having been discriminated against because of his race, it would have been the last thing he would do, but because of his experiences, it was the first thing he did, showing his disdain towards black people.
I liked the book very much, and what I liked most is Speigelman’s use of animals, his risk to make a comic book out of such a horrific event in history, but to shed some light on it, and show it to us in a way that is understandable and very moving.
I also found Vladek's racism surprising. I was disappointed because I have grown to really like his character and the very real, human way he is portrayed by his son. I understand why Spiegelman included this, because I think he was trying to present his father's personality as accurately as possible, but it's always sad to see someone display this kind of behavior.
DeleteI have sympathy for both Art and his father, though I got frustrated with both of them at times. I can see that it probably would have been difficult to grow up with Vladek, but there were times when I felt that Spiegelman should show more respect toward his father.
Overall, I really like the way Art wasn’t afraid to show an honest picture of the characters, including himself. I think this enforces the idea that nobody is perfect.
So, I know from experience that when a person is very ill and near the end, they kind of develop a kind of dementia. They can't distinguish one person from another. My grandmother called my dad "Bill," who was her second husband. She called my brother "Hank," who was her first husband who died in 1967. It makes perfect sense to me that someone who is nearing death would slip and call someone by someone else's name. Vladek is in extreme failing health, and is not completely there anymore. He's not going to remember that his son's name is Art, not Richieu.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea that this creates an unspoken sibling rivalry is kind of out there. Richieu didn't survive the Holocaust. Yes, Anja and Vladek regret and grieve for their lost son, but they loved Artie. Artie says that he felt like Richieu was the perfect son because he could never do anything wrong, he couldn't disappoint them. But there's the flaw in his statement: Artie has a world of possibilities, he can change his life and do anything. Richieu cannot-- all of his future died when he did. It sounds like that bad Nationwide commercial from the Super Bowl, but that's pretty much what happened.
I think Art's "reverting" has to do with the vulnerability one feels when giving their art out to the world. One's art is a reflection of one's soul, so putting stuff out there for the world to see is opening oneself up to all the vitriol and even the toxic positivity out there in the world. Art has to change his public persona because of Maus. Art has to assume this new identity -- that of the mouse -- because of his decision to tell his father's story. Success changes a person, and I think it changes the artist more than anyone else. This is what makes Maus so interesting. It takes this holocaust story and relates it to modern -- and timeless -- struggles.
ReplyDeleteI think Art's "reverting" has to do with the vulnerability one feels when giving their art out to the world. One's art is a reflection of one's soul, so putting stuff out there for the world to see is opening oneself up to all the vitriol and even the toxic positivity out there in the world. Art has to change his public persona because of Maus. Art has to assume this new identity -- that of the mouse -- because of his decision to tell his father's story. Success changes a person, and I think it changes the artist more than anyone else. This is what makes Maus so interesting. It takes this holocaust story and relates it to modern -- and timeless -- struggles.
ReplyDeleteI don't really think there is any underlying significance to Vladek not wanting Francoise and Art to leave him. He was old and lonely so obviously he would want his only remaining family with him. This most likely has nothing to do with the holocaust besides the fact that most of his family was already dead because of it.
ReplyDeleteVladek's racism toward the black dog is definitely significant because like Francoise was saying, Vladek of all people should understand why racism isn't fine. The most striking thing to me about what Vladek was saying was "you cant compare coloreds to jews," so basically he learned nothing from the Holocaust about race, and thinking on that, I don't remember him saying anything retrospectively about his thoughts on nazi's or anti-semiticism, as if he never really even thought about that part of it.
If the page 276 art means anything significant, I think it might be trying to reflect the disjointedness of Vladek's memories of people because kept in pictures which are really out of context and don't connect to each other.
I am not so sure Vladek saying "Richieu" at the end was as significant as it seems to both Art and a lot of readers. I mean I can tell that Speigelman was deeply affected, maybe offended, by it, but I think its another common mistake old people make that really isn't deeply rooted in some emotional turmoil. Vladek already had a son years before Art so if he is losing his memory it makes sense that he would confuse the names of them. It really can't be serious or have anything to do with the Holocaust (besides the fact that the Holocaust killed Richieu).
Final thoughts, I think Maus is a great book. It is definitely intense and brings something really serious and dark and REAL to the world of comics.
hapter Two
ReplyDeleteSpiegelman’s use of masks, as well as his turning younger, makes this particular scene memorable for me. It is a clear break from the rest of his narrative style, and I think that these kinds of asides are best facilitated by comic books because of their flexibility. With the masks, I feel that Art is trying to provide a distance between this particular reflection and the rest of the book, a kind of self-awareness of the conventions of his story. It gives us, as an audience, a better perspective on his life, not as a character in his world of mice and cats, but in the real world. The fact that Art’s analyst is also masked pushes this all the more. As a fellow Holocaust survivor, he is still connected to the animal characters of Maus. But in this moment, he is human, just like Art and ourselves. As for his own regression into childhood, it’s clear enough that the book, while rewarding and well-received, has been a considerable source of stress for him. With this section of the book, he is better able to voice his frustrations, and provide just a little more realism and depth behind the cartoon faces of Vladek and Art.
Chapter Three
These final moments between Vladek, Art and Francoise are what ultimately bring us to a human perspective of Vladek, with both the good and bad sides of this. It’s clear from Vladek’s insistence on their staying that he is painfully lonely. I think it reflects a great deal of the anxieties that haunt Vladek, particularly his worry of being alone. It’s an interesting dynamic, where despite his reluctance to think of the Holocaust, he very much wants to connect with his son. The whole experience provides a catharsis, where after all the experiences he goes through, both in his youth and in the present day with Art, we reach a sense of closure. But with this, Art is quick to remind us Vladek’s less savory human characteristics, such as his racism. I certainly don’t condone Vladek’s actions, and it is in my opinion where Vladek is at his least likable. But I don’t see it as damning of Vladek’s character, more as I see it as an expression of how he, like everyone, has his own human imperfections. We might know a great deal about Vladek and his history, and we may appreciate a lot of what he does, but some faults in people simply can’t be explained or justified.
Art's transformation during chapter 2 shows the internal changes he is going through. The story in between the flash backs becomes even more prominent during this time. Vladek and Art's relationship takes center stage but this intro to the chapter shows how Art is changed by the process. The mask shows that Art is being influenced in real life, not just the character in his book. Art listening to the tapes to continue working on the book is what struck me the most. It was the first time we saw Art listening to the recordings instead of showing him talking to his father. The transition back to childhood was the uncertainty and pressure that Art was feeling about himself. The mask could also represent the changes that the holocaust had on survivors, and those associated with them. This would be why his Psychiatrist would also be wearing a mask. The mask shapes their identity but is just a part.
ReplyDeleteVladek's persistent nature is one of the key factors of the story. The stubborn and thrifty means by which Vladek portrays himself has caused distance in all of his personal relationships. The reluctance and outright disregard of Art's and Francoise's desire to leave is due to the fact that Vladek does not want to be alone. I believe that Vladek also realized he was nearing the end of his life, and wanted to try to repair his and Art's relationship. The biggest statement of Vladek's racism is that it put him in the same shoes of the Polish villagers that turned in various Jews to the Germans. The negative experience that Vladek had when he first came to America, where a black man stole his money, marred that entire race in Vladek's eyes.
The last frame where Vladek is talking to Richieu instead of Art is probably the most important frame in the entire work. This ties back to something that Art mentioned on his way to his fathers house; how he felt sibling rivalry to a picture and that he never quite matched up. To me it was that Art lost his rivalry to his brother, at the end of his fathers life his mind had drifted to his lost son. However that final frame may in fact mean something else. Art and Vladek had reconnected, albeit begrudgingly on Art's side. The pair had went to bingo and sat by the pool. The frame could be more of Vladek returning to his old family who had passed before him. To Art it was a massive hit to the heart.