Europa, Europa by Shlomo Perel - Essay Example

? European Film Europa Europa Overview This is a drama movie that talks about a Jewish boy, Solomon Perel, who upon separation from his family during the Second World War, goes into the Nazi Army and becomes an ardent Hitler follower. This movie is characterized by happenstance and improbabilities; however, it is based on a true story. This movie is a classic movie that speaks about the Second World War and the Holocaust that culminated in the massacre of millions of Jews. This movie discusses in detail about German history and what transpired in German during this time period (Perel, 2010). Book Summary A young Jewish lad, Solomon Perel lives with his family in a remote part of Poland. A few years after his circumcision, he is forced to move with his family to Lodz, Poland after an attack takes the life of his sister. Solomon has two brothers; Isaak and David. Later, we learn of the tension that exists in these places when Germans attack Poland which leads to instability in the area. In the ensuing fracas, Solomon’s parents send him and his brother away so that they will be safe in a different location. We see how Soviet soldiers rescue Solomon and later sending him to an orphanage in Grondo. This way, Solomon and Isaac are separated. Solomon is then recruited into the Soviet Communist Union of Youth (Perel, 2008). Relations between German and Poland continue to deteriorate. For the second time, Germans attack Poland, this time attacking the orphanage. Orphans here flee which separates Solomon from his peers at the time. Germans rescue the young lad. Solomon is very fluent in German that he is able to convince the German soldiers that he is of German descent and not Polish. He comes up with a new identity by claiming that he is Josef Peters. A gay German soldier, Robert later discovers that Solomon is indeed a Jew since he was circumcised and not German as earlier claimed. Robert does not reveal this, hence, vows to keep it a secret. Robert becomes the young Solomon’s protector, but, this changes during a combat between Germans and Soviets. During this combat, Robert together with other German soldiers is killed, and this leaves Solomon all by himself. Solomon decides to surrender himself to the Soviets. As he strides across the battlefield, Germans grab this opportunity and they ambush the Soviets forcing them to surrender. Even though Solomon did not intend this, he is now regarded as a hero and this culminates in him being sent to a Hitler Youth school (Rigg, 2008). Various events transpire along the way to the school, the most notable being a sexual encounter between Solomon and a woman he was travelling with. Upon arrival at the school, Solomon is regarded a hero and a true and patriotic German. Solomon gets assigned to a room with a new found friend, Gerd. Solomon falls in love with a German girl, Leni, but, they do not interact sexually since he fears that his identity will be revealed. At school, students are expected to be examined by a doctor once a year. Solomon realizes that this is going to reveal his identity since the doctor’s examination entailed being naked. He, therefore, evades the procedure by faking a toothache. Later, we see Solomon slapping Leni after she insults Jews in a small argument. The two do not see each other for long. Solomon goes to visit Lemi’s mother after some months. He learns from her that Lemi was heavy with child, and that it is Gerd who had impregnated her. Solomon is really heartbroken, and this forces him to confess to Lemi’s mother that he is Jewish. She sympathizes with him and promises to keep this a secret. At his school, police summon him to present his racial purity papers. Solomon tries to explain that he had left them at Grondo, but they hear none of it. They demand that he brings his Racial Purity Certificate. Solomon feels doomed since without these papers, his identity will easily be revealed. As he leaves the building, Gerd is killed through a nearby bombing. As the movie reaches its homestretch, Hitler Youth soldiers are sent to war. Here, Solomon surrenders to the Soviets and tells them that he is not German and not Jewish. They do not believe him since they believe that, had been a Jew, Hitler’s men would have killed him a long time or sent him to a concentration camp. As they are about to kill him, Isaac appears and identifies him. Isaac had been rescued from a concentration camp by the Soviet soldiers. These two are later sent to Palestine, which is later annexed to form Israel, land of the Jews (Perel, 2008). Role of Place in the movie Place has taken a noteworthy place in the movie. The producers of the movie have discussed the life of Solomon and Isaac in two different countries, Poland and German. These two initially live in Lodz but after an attack here, they are sent to Grondo by the parents with hope that they will get peace at thios place. Later, they are forced to cross over to German; Isaac is taken to a concentration in German while Solomon is captured and recruited to be part of the Hitler Youth soldiers. Therefore, we see how place has played a role in the movie. Through taking us through different places, the producers were simply explaining the nature of the Soviet- German war and the Holocaust. In the movie, Poland signifies a place of peace for the Jewish, but, German signifies a place of torture and suffering for Jews. Jews were extremely mistreated by the German. Through Solomon, we learn of the tribulations that Jews faced in German. Solomon represents the millions of Jews who were exposed to the harsh Jewish treatment during this period. Had it not been for his bravery and calculating nature, Solomon would have been killed immediately he stepped into German. Jews in German were put in concentration camps where they were extremely tortured or even killed. The location in this movie has also served to explain about the theme well. Producers of the movie wanted to explain concerning events of the Holocaust, hence, Poland and German were the best regions for the location. By using German as a location, we have leant of the manner of mistreatment from the perspective of Solomon. Through this also, we learn of the general attitude of Germans towards Jews. Judging from the way that Solomon interacted with his school mates, we can conclude that Germans had a condescending attitude towards Jews. Even Lemi, Solomon’s girlfriend is so discriminative of the Jews, which infuriates him to slap her (Rigg, 2008). Cultural elements The movie has also brought out various cultural elements which have further expounded on the thematic concerns. There has not been extreme emphasis on gender since the major theme of the movie is racial prejudice, violence and the Holocaust. The only gender issues only crop up when Lemi has a disagreement with Solomon, but this is more on differing opinions concerning Jews and not on gender inequality. The movie is set at a time of the rise of Adolf Hitler, who triggered the massacre of Jews. Hitler’s exploits are derived from his personal experiences with Jews, but amazingly, he turns the entire German republic to be against the Jewish race. Racial prejudice has been portrayed in the movie extensively. Through Solomon, we learnt, racial prejudice was inherent even in the education system where medical examinations were conducted by students to determine their race. Furthermore, even the police department went around schools ensuring that students had ‘racial purity certificates. The producers have represented place very well in the movie. Through them, we learn of the volatile nature of the events during Adolf Hitler’s reign. We even learn of concentration camps that were created to torture Jews who had been captured. Therefore, place has an important correlation with the thematic concerns in this movie. Through location in German and Poland, we learn of the nature of the Holocaust. It also makes the movie much more real. References Perel, S. (2009). Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon. Berlin: Nicolai. Rigg, B. M. (2008). Hitler's Jewish soldiers: the untold story of Nazi racial laws and men of Jewish descent in the German military. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. Shlomo Perel, M. B. (2008). Europa, Europa. New York: Wydawn. Shlomo Perel, M. B. (2009). Europa, Europa. New Jersey: Wiley and Sons. Read More