Samuel Gruber's Testimony: Pride and Prejudice

The testimony that will be analyzed in the following entry is the story of Polish soldier Samuel Gruber, who was taken as a prisoner of war by the German and forced to build the Madjanek concentration camp. In 1992, he escaped the Nazis and became a leader for an armed partisan group.  In this particular portion of his experience, we will not discuss traumatic punishments or cruel forced labour. We will rather look into one of the most important thematically subjects that the Holocaust presented: prejudice. As follows, I will shortly explain the events that took place in Europe during the 19th century, and why these are considered a massive crime around the globe.

a. The Holocaust and World War II

The Holocaust was the state approved persecution to the European Jewry by the German Nazis, as a result of racial, ethnic, and religious differences. The Jewish population was the main target, but groups such as the Gypsies, Jehovah’s witnesses, and mentally disabled men were also attacked. The events that preceded the mass murdering of Jews include the the Nazi party’s acquisition of power, the expansion of the German territories, and the social acceptance of the imposed and deteriorated image of Jews for the society.

To begin with, the Nazis were subjects that practiced nazism. This last is described as a form of fascism and anti-semitism, in which racism is a key aspect for the creation of a supreme race. The Germans believed to be pure, opposite to the other races. This Herrenrasse(superior race) wanted  to acquire territory in order to expand, as its members thought that “inferior” groups threatened their existence.  The Nazi party became much more relevant as they reached political power in the 1930s. From that moment on, Germany expanded the quantity of land it possessed, and, as it invaded Poland, the World War II arose.

The Nazis created concentration camps, in which the captured Jews were forced to cruel and unfair labour, under inhuman conditions. Germans murdered approximately two out of every three Jews in Europe, using principally carbon monoxide, and a total of six million men from said religious community passed away in this terrible event.

The Nazis invaded Western Poland during the year 1939 as an attempt  to create more living space for the Aryan race. Parallel to this, the Soviet Union gained control over the Eastern part of said country. Poland was in the middle of what would be the raging enemies and protagonists of the war, being one of the epicenters of conflict. Jewish citizens were taken to ghettos in which they lived under terrible conditions under the Nazi control. This way of proceeding would soon expand to the different German-controlled portions of Europe. The groups of Jews that were able to escape their ghettos or concentration camps created their own fighting units, called partisans. The Madjanek concentration camp was built soon after the occupation of Poland, in the southeastern portion of this country. To modern day, it is the best preserved concentration camp. During its period of operation(1942-1944), the Nazis were facing diverse wars with the Soviet Union, which culminated of this last’s domination of Lublin and the Madjanek concentration camp.

Germany's Invasion of Poland, 1939
Soviet Union's Invasion of Poland, 1939

As the Germans imposed an idea of the Jewish that presented as proto-humans, demons, and part of an inferior world. It is true, however, that there were evil Jews, but in the same way as there are evil men in the world. This was a false generalization for said group, that every German citizen believed.

b. Samuel Gruber's Testimony

In his testimony, Gruber spoke about his experience with German girl, who was shocked when she found out that he was a Jew. He said he had spoken the femme's language fluently, and that he noticed that she had liked him. As the conversation advanced, he said she had started to talk about the Jewish and how they had caused the war. Gruber choose his words wisely, and ask the young woman if she had ever seen a Jew. She answered that she hadn't, and as she did so, Gruber asked how she knew how they were. The young woman then talked about Hitler, saying that he had spoken of Jews as if they were the devil, and he had even mentioned that they had horns. Gruber then said that he was Jewish, and the girl could not believe it. The man describes that she had made all kinds of faces, and had run away and come back to him, exclaiming that it wasn't possible. Of course, taking into account the image she had of the members of said religious group, it was very difficult to understand how a handsome, young man could be a part of it. As Gruber correctly points out, it was the conception of the Jewish, but not the party itself.

          Samuel Gruber

c. Main Themes in Gruber's Testimony

To begin with, I believe that the topic of this testimony is the Holocaust, as it is the general experience of which Gruber speaks about. On the other hand, the theme of the story is the image that one has of others previous to meeting them. As one hears the experience of said man, one may acquire a broader perspective of what it is to judge the people who live beside you taking into account solely what others have told you about them. During thi, perception of others was a crucial aspect. Not only in terms of segregation of Jews, but also in the repudiation of German men. I strongly disagree with the statement that affirms that all Germans were evil. Prejudice is the principal theme that Gruber's testimony reflects.

Jewish Family prior to the Holocaust

d. Opinion on Gruber’s Testimony

The testimony of Samuel Gruber emphasizes in one of the most important phenomena that the world has to deal with. I believe it is fundamental to hear experiences similar to Gruber's because they provide an objective point of view towards a theme that is present on a daily basis. Furthermore, it is a story through which one may learn a vital lesson for life: not to judge others previous to meeting them. I chose this testimony because it reflects how there are thousands of people in this world, each and everyone of them constantly imagined and misimagined(Green).

e. Bibliography
-United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. June 4th, 2015. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_oi.php?MediaId=1213>
- Green, John. Paper Towns. New York: Dutton, 2008. Print.
-"The Nazi Occupation of Poland". EyeWitness to History.com.  1997. Web. June 4th, 2015. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/poland.htm>