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Horrors of the Holocaust- Vladek - Coggle Diagram
Horrors of the Holocaust- Vladek
Losing family members, families being split up by external factors
He lost his first son Richie to the war, who was sent to gas chambers when he was just 3 years old, and Vladek was the one who sent him with his aunt. and uncle that eventually got him killed, and so that comes with a big burden
Vladek would take extreme measures to try and protect his family, however in the end most of them were unsuccessful
He lost his wife Anja, who he loved more than anyone else in the world to the horrors of the holocaust, as she killed herself due to the trauma of the horrors of the holocaust.
Vladek has lost almost his entire family to the war. Their identity as Jews has caused them to be taken from her by the Nazi's right from their arms. His in-laws were killed right in front of his eyes, and he would have been too as he was put in the same position as them. However, he was able to be saved, and this. caused a large amount of survivors guilt.
Turning jews against one another
On page 84, when the jews who Vladek worked in the black market with are hanged in the square, Vladek's first worry was not about the hanging itself, but about the fact that any of the dead people could have ratted him out.
Vladek clearly understands and is aware of why this happened – he clearly didn't subscribe to this notion himself (pg. 87), but he was aware why it happened and saw it as another obstacle to his survival.
The holocaust turned jews against other jews, even family, and no one in the book was more aware of that than Vladek. On page 114, when Vladek and his family are in danger, and he knows that even his cousin won't help him unless he pays, so he shows him signs that he can.
Vladek was forced to witness the terrible atrocities of the war and live with the after-effects and guilt as a survivor, as well as go through some himself
he watched his family members being taken away from him to death, and friends and companions being sent straight to concentration camps from a football stadium, and slowly watched almost every jew from his town being killed, and he was not able to grieve as he had to go ahead and face the next challenge and survive with the little family he had left
He was forced to witness public hangings, and children being hit and people being killed and shot, knowing that he could very well next
He was forced to participate in a war and was captured as a prisoner of war, where he was forced to work in camps. this affected his survivour mentality, and forced him to always be on his toes looking two steps ahead.
dehumanization of jews, unfair laws, jews treated like vermin, discriminated
The Nazis dehumanised the jews and took away all of their rights, which affected Vladek quite a lot as well. On page 52, when Vladek and the other soldiers are captured as prisoners of war, the jews are treated worse than the polish. They're barely given any food to eat, and made to do work in less time than it would take. Their businesses are taken from them without remorse, and they are treated worse than dirt.
there horrors of the holocaust affected Vladek's personality and behaviour
The trauma caused by the things he was forced to go through was monumental, and clearly affected all of his actions. Even years on end after the war, Vladek hoards resources and money which helped him survive during the war, and even picks up telephone wire he found on the ground rather than just buying it from a store (pg. 116).
he is also mistrustful and skeptical of everyone around him due to the degradations of human values that took place in order to survive the horrors
the war also forced him to be very resourceful and make the most out of the little he had,which is trait that is reflected in his present life inthe form of stingyness