The Story of Blima: a Holocaust Survivor - Essay Example

The Story of Blima: a Holocaust Survivor Famous Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his Poetics, declares a refined piece of literature as the mirror of society, as it reflects the social norms, cultural values, economic conditions and political situation of the society. As a result, the great literary pieces are the record of historical traditions and cultural conventions and show class conflict, ethno-racial unfairness, religious bias and political differences present in society. The same is applied to the Story of Blima: a Holocaust Survivor (2005) by the modern US feminist writer Shirley Russak Wachtel, which focuses upon the ethno-racial hatred applied by the Nazi Germany against the Jewish community during 1933-45. The story narrates how religious bias and racial hatred creates disturbance for the individuals, and brings destruction and trouble in society. The theme of this short story describes the tragedies the Jewish community faced under the Nazi German administrator. The novel narrates how a Polish national Jew young lady, named Blima, was arrested by the Nazi forces in order to keep her in some labor camp created for the Jews, against whom Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had severe hatred. Since Hitler thought the Jews as traitors, who were trying to weaken the German economy, he imposed different kinds of pains and sufferings upon them in order to take revenge from the Jews for supporting the enemies of Germany during WWI onward. At first, the Nazi high-handedness was limited to the German Jews only; somehow, the same was committed against the Austrian and Polish Jews too after German occupation of both these countries in 1937 and 1939 respectively (Speer 2003). Thus, the Jews had to run away to various countries, to save themselves from the Nazis (Diamont 2005). Blima was an ambitious young girl working in a bakery in her native country, when the Germans invaded and occupied Poland, and started making the rebel and resistant Polish people as their captives. Although the entire Polish nation was the target of German hatred, the situation of the Jewish population was the most pathetic one, the members of which were boycotted, rebuked and abused in different ways. The boycott of the goods and services being offered by the Jewish community broke their financial backbone, and left them at the state of poverty and disorder subsequently (Wachtel 19). Hence, the author has confirmed the existence of ethno-racial hatred and prejudice during the first half of twentieth century, which had its historical roots in the ancient times onward, since the time the Jews had been in conflict with various nations, cultures and civilization for the last forty centuries. They had to fight against the Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians and other pagan communities in ancient eras on the one hand, and their own factions, Christians, Muslims and Nazis in modern times on the other hand in order to maintain their unique and separate identity with the rival communities. However, the Nazis were the hardest enemies of the Jews, which insulted, tortured and even killed them during the course of time; financial boycott of the community was also an example of the same (Wachtel 15-6). The misery of the Jews did not end at the situation of their financial boycott; rather, both male and female members of the community were tortured and arrested, and were shifted to the labor camps; Blima was also one of those arrested during the time. She was boarded on the train to travel in miserable conditions as Nazi captive, along with several other men and women, during her shifting to the labor camp. Hence, here started the worst days of her life, where she had to face pains and woes, which was opposite to her peaceful life in her motherland. Shirley narrates the story how the Jews were horrified about their future, as their life and honor was in danger, and every type of unkindness could be expected from the Nazis after the outbreak of WWII. Her days in the camp were full of disappointment, where everyday brings hope of freedom, though ends with the fading of hopes eventually (Wachtel 51). Being a woman, she feared the attacks on her honor at the hands of the Nazis. Here appears the feminist perspective of the novel, which depicted the life and worries of the females in an effective way. The author narrates how the captives had to work hard from morning to evening as forced labor, and the Germans kept a constant eye on them so that they could not remain free or start making plans to run away from the camp. Since the war against the allies was at peak, and the Germans had inflicted ruination on the proud British with their complete military might, the Nazi wrath and awful behavior against the Polish, French and other captives was quite natural particularly at the climax of the war (Wachtel 43). Though the Germans insulted the prisoners in camps; yet, the captives in Blima’s section, found a caring female warden, who treated them in kind manner by keeping the Polish women in line. She also granted them some relaxation from work, and gave them food as well. But, the feelings of being far away from parents, siblings, friends and community members made Blima sad and increased her condition shocking and hopeless. Anyway, she did not lose hope even under the most unfavorable situation, and kept on making struggle for her survival in the labor camp with the hope of rejoining the family members one day after her release from the camp ultimately. Blima’s shifting from the former to a remote camp added to her desolation and gloominess, as there was no kind woman to look after her like in the previous camp (Wachtel 79). Her labor hours were increased, which also increased her disappointments. It was the time when she started turning hopeless about her future. Somehow, an unexpected meeting with her sister-in-law in the camp not only filled her heart with joys, but also created a new ray of hope in it. As a result, she once again began dreaming about a peaceful life on getting free in future. The Nazi attack on the USSR in 1941 and the latter’s joining hands with the allies forced Germany to go to back foots slowly. Now Germany was becoming defensive in all fronts because of losing the war in different borders and zones. The German navy’s denial to face the allied forces increased their difficulties. As a result, the country lost the war, and Hitler died in strange circumstances in April 1945 (Speer 2003). Germany was divided into east and west zones, and British were successful in having an access to the labor camps. It took few months in the release of the prisoners of war (POW)s, and Blima was also set free at last to re-unite with her twin brother and other family members. She was extremely happy on her release, but felt both Poland and Germany as an unsafe place to reside. Her family eventually got a life-partner for her, whom she married at last after spending six long years in different labor camps. The couple decided to move to the USA in 1948, and thus finally shifted at there to lead a peaceful life far from the tension and fear of war zone of Europe. To conclude, it becomes evident that this short fiction beautifully sums up the entire scenario in a powerful way and within historical and cultural perspectives, where political rivalries, regional conflicts, ethno-racial discrimination, religious prejudice and feminist problems have very skillfully been portrayed making this short story as the record of the chronicle of events took place in reality during WWII. The fiction also states that the racial hatred is not limited to one specific area only; rather, almost all societies of the world find the same though amount of bias is different in respect of intensity from one culture to the other. Works Cited Diamont, Max I. Jews, God and History NAL Trade 2nd Edition 2003 Speer, Albert Inside the Third Reich (Translated by Richard and Clara Winston) Orion Publishers 2003 Print Wachtel, Shirley Russak Te Story of Blima: a Holocaust Survivor Townsend Press 2005 Print Read More