Survival in Auschwitz - Anatomy Class - Leanne White

Back in Anatomy class in high school, we dissected fetal pigs. I remember my peers making them talk or dance, and I was repulsed. I am sure many of you are going to read this and say that I am far too sensitive and that it is simply a farm animal, and you might be right. But to me, I saw God's creation that day as an opportunity to learn and I wanted to show respect. I was in the mindset that this pig was just as valuable a cadaver as a human.

This disgust returned to my mind and multiplied when I read this book. When Levi stands before the nurse, they poke at his ribs and refer to him as a corpse in an anatomy class. Here, I remembered anatomy class and how I felt about the pigs, but this time it was a living human. But this was beyond disrespect. These people were tortured and traumatized. A large group of people were treating an entire other group of people as if they were swine on a high school lab table, but far, far worse.

Before we even read the book, Hailey informed me that much of what we know about anatomy today is what people learned from the jews, and that thought ripped my heart out of my chest and threw it in the shredder. I was shocked and sickened.

This story was absolutely gut wrenching seeing the way people were treated. Tears tried to force themselves from my eyes with every word. I hope that there is some brightness as the book continues because it is proving difficult to read.

I commented on Drew and Rachel's posts.

Comments

Hailey Morgan said…
The Holocaust is a truly disgusting and depressing era of history. To belittle a race to the point of no longer seeing them as humans, but instead as mere beasts results in heavily morbid consequences. Having no qualms about torturing and brutally experimenting on millions of innocent men, women and children is an absolutely horrid place to reach.

It's been a long time since I learned about that medical experimentation fact (pretty sure it was sometime during my sophomore year of high school). I don't know how many of the discoveries made by the Germans are still relevant, but the Nazis did do terribly sickening things to their captives in order to push the bounds of science. It's wretched to think that some of the medical practices and safety precautions we learn of today have their roots in inhumane Nazi experimentation's.
Drew Hedden said…
Very convicting thoughts Leanne. It's so easy to forget exactly how awful and inhumane all of the Holocaust was. I wonder how bad any country would have to be to currently reach that low of promoting the idea that unwanted civilians are just numbers, human trash, completely based on their status, religion, or ethnicity. Obviously any country could improve relations in dealing with issues like these, but what was so shocking about Germany was just how deeply the entire country believed that that form of oppression was the right thing to do.
Osten said…
I had an entirely different reaction to the book. In Auschwitz, I saw how God taught his people several languages and gave them the strength to overcome the most humiliating situations. He worked with them, carrying the heavy loads when they couldn't anymore. Even in a place like Auschwitz kindness can be found in a fellow man and God can be found in the small victories.
Logan Turner said…
I mean absolutely no offense when I say this, but the inhumane experiments the Nazis conducted on the Jews contributed a TON to the medical field. I am in no way saying that what they did to them was right (the opposite in fact), but I think instead of pitying them, we should honor them for contributing so much. What they went through was horrible and literal torture, but there was some good that came of it so it's somewhat comforting knowing their deaths weren't pointless.
Jamie Peters said…
You are absolutely right, Leanne, the horrors of the extermination camps were inhumane. More than that though, it seems that they were set there to properly disassemble a human being until he/she was nothing but an empty shell. Furthermore, many officials did this without complaint because to them, Jews were animals, unclean and unworthy of being called men.
Caroline Tucker said…
It was terrible. I went to the Holocaust Museum last summer and the exhibits on the experiments they did to the captives of the concentration camps were sickening. There were pictures and videos of the experiments. I do not want to describe it. Watching something so terrible and disrespectful to the lives of people was so saddening. There are no words to describe the feelings I have now remembering it all.