Jtube: Freedom Writers

Just what makes something "History" today?
If you wer to ask any of those students who "Jack the Ripper" was, almost all would know at least part of the lore. So why does a serial killer who kills 6 prostitutes become more well known than a serial killer responsible for over 6 million? That's a question worth pondering I think, just what makes "History" rememberable?
The utter horror of the act/person, or the folklore that becomes of it. The reason "Jack the Ripper" is more famous with todays youth than "Adolph the Jew Butcher" is that people are still willing to TALK about Jack! Schools (some) even teach about his exploits, I heard it in my grade 11 History class in 1972, but not much was said about Adolph and his thugs even back then...the story was too repugnant for our sensitive ears according to someone (I guess). So the true story of the worlds greatest Mass Murderer goes untold, just as it still is today, and this part of History is fast becoming an unknown era of the past to today's society. Is it still to "Repugnant" to talk about how one man took a country and turned it into the biggest genocidal machine in recent history?
If we allow this era to be forgotten just because our children are too "sensitive" to hear about such atrocities, we are allowing it to be replayed again in the near future!! History forgotten is History repeated!
The future generations will NOT be able to recognize the warning signs of another impending madman, because we've wiped history clean of any referrence they may have to gauge it against, and therefore we condemn them to relive it!!

We MUST make ALL History a part of school curriculum and not just the "Clean" history, but the dirty filthy history as well...it's still our History and we can't ignore that! The Muslim schools are already doing their part to change history by teaching that this never happened, let's not do the same in our Western schools. Our children must know the horrors of allowing madmen to attain power and pervert an entire nation, while the rest of the world sit's idly by watching it happen and saying "It's not OUR problem" like it happened before! Our children must know that it truly IS "Our Problem" too, and not allow this kind of history to be repeated.

Thank You
Dave

The film called "The Wave" was shown to me and my classmates on more than one occasion in school. It is a great film that is a wonderful follow up for the film we are all commenting on. Unfortunately without any knowledge of the Holocaust, as the students portrayed were clearly lacking, the film will have so much less of an impact. Parents and teachers, tell your kids about the Holocaust and then show them "The Wave" - and watch it with them!! It has obviously stuck with me since I was shown it as a kid.

How sad it is to think that memories of many in our country have been expunged of the truth of the world's hard history.

As an Christian African American, my heart breaks to think that so many in our country can be so ignorant of things so important.

Well, that is not true in my family. My children are fully aware of the horror of the holocaust. We are also aware that nothing has changed to prevent the repeat of such mammoth tragedies.

G.Kevin Turner

This film is a must see, but not at all funny...

this only proves that our kid's think history began when they where born.
in another generation it will be forgotten !

Every generation needs to be taught the lessons of the Holocaust. We have made such a small inroad into the global conciousness that many are still trying to wipe out entire peoples because of their race, tribe, religion and a variety of other excuses. Many of my students are immigrants who came here because of such situations.Others are the victims of a poverty stricken urban environment like that in the movie FREEDOM WRITERS.This year we spent 6 months teaching students about the Holocaust through literature, movies,documentaries, and teleconferences, and discussions. Only then did the hate graffiti, swastikas, and lack of empathy begin to disappear. These lessons of treating every person in a humane way with respect have to be taught every day of every year. It is the most important thing we can do.

It is much more difficult, but at the same time much
more important, to mobilize civil courage against the ultimate evil, than it is to convince an annihila-tor, that he/she is not doing a jolly good job..

To be an Israelite is to be a chosen people. As a chosen people G-d gave them wonderful abilities/gifts. Some Israelites love and follow the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, causing others who are opposed to the one true G-d to become jealous of the Israelites and therefore to hate them such as the Nazi did. Some Israelites however, are rebellious, stubborn, obstinate and have turned their backs on the one true G-d and therefore G-d turned them over to their enemies

first it was germany and the world vowed never again! then mel gibson and the world said we have just misunderstood. now its iran lets see what happens... although i belive it is happening already, besides they have promised it! TAKE OFF YOUR BLINDERS WORLD

The Holocaust needs to be taught to every generation, because it can never be be forgotten. There needs to be more tolorance and understanding and kindness in this world. We are all humans. We need to respect our fellow man. This vidio needs to be shown all over the web. Every one shoud see it.

The universal lesson we would hope that the next generation would learn is not to repeat history, especially of such barbaric nature. It's sad to think how many do not have a grasp on the Holocaust at all. For me, growing up in New York it was REQUIRED learning, and I will never forget it and it should never be forgotten! I am Italian by ancestory, possibly Sephardic on my great grandmothers side, don't know for sure, but that does not change the way I feel or alter it. NO ONE should ever be treated in such a manner and it should never be forgotten. Unfortunately, it will.

the jewish people have a divine mission
which can be accomplished only if they remain separate.
in germany assimilation became a legitimate course which paved the way for total disappearance.
gentiles,who instinctively know our role in history, will never let us forget it.

By limiting this film clip to a web site designed to attract Jews you are just preaching to the choir.

What are we doing to get this message to the inner cities of America or to the rest of the world?

A case could be made that the kids in this classroom are as susceptible to Nazism as the young people of Germany in the 1930s. Feeling like second class citizens, despised (they believe) by the majority around them, without the potential (they believe) of "the good life", they are seeking a place of respect for themselves in the world. Fortunately for us, our kids are being taught that this country holds opportunity even when some indications demonstrate otherwise. The young people of Germany were taught national primacy, personal superiority and the worthlessness of those who were different. The return to the teaching of history in our classrooms is essential. Maybe we need to rethink how history is taught if kids the age of those shown in the film are still not aware of the Holocaust and the implications for all of civilization.

In every age, the interests of the powerful must be moderated and the powerless heard and acted upon.

I am not a Jew iin fact I was raise Catholic and now I am a
Batist. That really does not mater what maters is that nless we talk about the Holocaust we will be doomed to have it again. No mater what a person is either balck white red or yellow or
jew, Christian or even Mulsim. They all have a right to be. No body has any God given or other given right to harm another person for who they are. I may not be the best writer in the english language, but I wtill have a right to be and a right to think that I mater too.

This is a powerful presentation! Our ignorance of the past leads to a repeat of the same acts in the future. This a stroke of genius! It really delivers an accurate view of the lack of history that is being taught in our classrooms today. Great!

Analogy to Nazi "gangs", and to the singling out other people for ridicule due to things they cannot change, really brings this matter to the surface and stimulates thought. This would be a great introduction for discussion in a civics or social studies classroom. Great Job!!!!Ignorance of this history is the greatest danger today.

if we don't aknowledge the past, it tends to repeat itself ---over an over--when we laugh at others--we are really showiwng our fears of inadequacy

Excellent way to teach about the horrors of humanity.

I have been teaching both religious and public school for many years. I have never heard of a public school anywhere in the US that, at least at this juncture, does not teach the Holocaust sometime during grades 6-10. Sometimes, it is covered many times.

I have not seen the movie, although I would like to, but I don't know where these kids were to not have heard of the Holocaust. They may not care about it, but they have heard about it.

Powerful!

My husband and I watched this movie, which is based on a true story! It was fabulous! What a wonderful truth and life lesson to be learned from hatred and bigotry! I would recommend it for anyone! I will watch it over and over! So glad that you have seen it and recognize it's significance in today's troubled world!

One of the most powerful short films I have seen.
Can you get this on national TV???
Please can you try. I think ppl. would love it. Think Oprah.

I am a teacher, an American, a Christian, now living and working in Japan. I am committed to helping the children I teach to understand both the brutality, and the gallantry which were shown in that terrible time we know as
"holocaust".
I also want to let you know that I loved the "J-phone" piece that Jewlarious put out. Thanks for the comedic peaks you give into the Jewish heart. Keep up the good work...we hear you. peace. jmct.

I have a kid, somewhat well educated that used to work for me. He was in his early 20's. I once asked him if he had ever heard of Aushwitz. He had never heard of it. I had a hard time believing him.

I was raised in the Amarillo Texas area and while I thought I was "well educated" (making good grades, etc.) I knew NOTHING of the Holocaust until I visited the Holocaust Center in the Detroit area. My eyes were opened to what could happen when pure, unharnassed hate is released upon the world. The miracle is NOT the defeating of the Nazi machine, it is how a people can survive that machine by the grace of G_d. It is being able to show movies like this to open the minds and eyes of people. This is GREAT!!!

Anonymous, this is not far fetched or unreal. "Freedom Writers" is based on a true story and the book by the same name. It is an excellent film about a teacher named Erin Gruwell (Swank) who found herself teaching a class that was divided by gangs. They were angry teenagers, condemned by everyone else in the school and always shooting each other on the weekends. Only Gruwell wanted to give them an education, self respect, and tolerance for others.

The first thing she does *after* this clip is take them to a Holocaust museum and introduce them to survivors. They see what a crematorium is and what it means to have a number on your arm. Later in the film she gives them "The Diary of Anne Frank" to read. The teens immediately connect with the story of a girl just like them. But when one student finishes the book, she slams it down and yells at her teacher, "I hate you and I hate this book! You didn't tell me that she died! What's the point?"

Another student says that it's just the lesson of Anne's story: understanding others instead of just blaming them out of ignorance. The class gradually comes together and they all learn to set aside personal differences. The lesson of Anne Frank and 6 million other Jews becomes a critical time in their lives and in the film, we see them become inspired to rise above prejudice and hatred. Go watch "Freedom Fighters". You'll be glad you did.

First off I commend you all for showing a clip of this movie.....somehow it got lost in the middle of the Spiderman & penguin mania. What a shame bc it was (is) a great movie!!!!

Teaching the holocaust is key bc back in the day of little technology look what they accomplished.....fast-forward to today.....wow, what some one could accomplish!!! It can happen today & we must get the word out....it only happened 60 some years ago...our society gets bored so easily....people might be looking for a "project"....let us not become the next science experiments of the 21st century!!!! Lets get the Holocaust into history text books....we are too bright not to believe that history does repeat itself....there is nothing new under the heavens.

( We need to start with ourselves though....we do not need, as Jews, to have the biggest house & the newest car etc..we don't need others to be jealous of us..that leads to hatred......we need to incorporate tznius into more than our clothing. I guess this is another subject altogether...)

On this tisha b'av, it is so sad yet unsurprising that ignorance continues. Unfortunately, racism flourishes, and the only miraculous thing is that (at least for now) Jews survive, while other peoples have been entirely destroyed by violence.

In the United States, the ignorance of school children that is fostered by an aloof and arrogant federal administration, merely INCLUDES ignorance of the Holocaust, but is not limited to that subject.

At least in the USA, indifference to the Holocaust is not a product of the bias and Jew-hatred of the power structure, as it is in much of the Muslim world. However, indifference based on the abandonment of egalitarian ideals and commitment to an educated populace is not much better than the hate-based kind, in that it immobilizes our country in the face of continuing evil.

Holocaust not being taught in schools?
I can believe it. This is what you get when historical revisionists and PC people get in control.
The same schools probably teach that America is an Imperialistic nation.

this seems impossible, how can no one know about the holocaust...? this seems just a little unreal.

The lesson is that holocaust is a form of hate wedder is in a form of religion or race or any other to be used to gain power over people's worst think that can happen to humanity

In real life any public school teacher that deviates from the state program, would get her "walking papers" real history is not accepted history!

It is patheticly true that the great majority of young Americans have received a politically correct version of 2oth Century history. Their immersion into US history is similarly shallow. When asked about the signifigance of July 4th "holiday", they might know it is Independance Day, but they are unable to state the year it occurred. So why should we be surprised that they don't know what the "Holocaust" was?

For example, there is a common concept that the Jews were "given" the State of Israel in 1948. Before that it was called Palestine and it was the home of the Palestinians . The fact that there was never a country called Palestine and that the Israelites lived in Israel for thousands of years seems not to matter.

These absurd tales were taught in school by teachers.

So I do not bemoan the multi-million dollar salaries paid to the CEO's, or the Movie Stars, or the Pro Sports Players. However, when I hear people complaining about their children's education I ask them whether they know just how much their teachers are earning? Let's remember, whether it is a car, a TV, your eye-glasses, a baseball mitt, or your kids education -in most cases you get what you pay for!

Wow. I am shocked from watching this video to learn that there are people out there who don't know about the holocaust. Being a jew I have read numerous books written by survivors and watched countless programs on the subject.
Maybe they should make it mandatory that at junior high or high school level every class should not only view a film on the subject but make a trip to a holocaust museum.
This is shameful, pityful and makes me very sad.

Some holocaust education is valuable that any kind of hate, including self hate is bad.

I have worked with groups of youth in similar settings and experienced this exactly as the video portrays. There are many people, young and old alike who know nothing about the holocaust. Even sadder, is meeting those who have knowledge of this subject and find it amusing. My own children have come home from school in a "upscale neighborhood with families of all ethnic origins from all over the world" that prides itself on diversity, to tell me that some of their classmates thought it was appropriate to snicker and laugh while the class watched "Schindler's List". The lessons that the Holocaust teaches speak for themselves. But, only those who really want to hear these messages will actually learn what can be taught about them.

This video is incredibly profound and thought provoking...we all need to have the "Never Again" attitude and fight to stamp out Racism. God Bless, LeighAnn

An awesome flick that needs to be broadcasted on tv. Unfortunately, it would probabbly only stir greater bigotry.

Within each of us lies the potential to do horrific things. It is only the teachings of morality that keeps us focused on those things that are good.

Otherwise, if we are surrounded by bad influences, we could find ourselves becoming poisoned by the same thinking that generated the Holocaust.

Think about it. Society gives out awards, honors, plaques, medals, and all sorts of recognition for those who demonstrate exceptional good will toward their fellow man.

Why? Because good needs to be encouraged at every opportunity.

Evil needs no encouragement. It never ceases its relentless desire to destroy- even when life seems to be going well.

The scene in the movie clip demonstrates the ignorance of moral teaching in the students. Darkness and sin fill the void.

Great short movie. I am very touched.
All this ignorant low-lifes do not know and appreciate the lessons of the past.
It proves the unquestinable necessity of constant reminding to people what happened.
We should stand up against cheap Islamic agenda created by muslim groups of haters around the world.
The most important, Jews must remember what happened in Germany to prevent anything siniar in future!!!

This was indeed a wonderful movie - hard to believe that it was based on a true story. For those who question the need for Holocaust museums, this should serve as a compelling answer. The real question is: Why don't more of us support these institutions with our time and/or money?

Wonderful film / fearfully in ignorance our societies will perish / in not defending ourselves against this ignorance, by not understanding it, we will be absorbed in today's world by the Islamic culture and allow for our destruction by the radicals from within ...

Very Very Very well done and so true

I saw this movie twice in one day. It is universal and can teach a lesson to us all about how hate can be spread or stopped. It also shows us how important teachers are to our students and how they can change their lives. The holocaust is a topic that lends itself to all people and has an affect on how they view their own lives, even to those whose everyday lives are so removed and distant from those of the Jewish people. It proves that the Jews did not die in vain. We must continue to teach the history of the Jewish people and our continuous struggle for survival in a world where hate has taken over, today, many countries around the world.