“The SS don’t look human. Their faces aren't faces, they are grim masks. And their voices are angry barks.” Page 69 I have Lived a Thousand Years
When I read this quote I was very intrigued by Elli’s description of the SS. A textbook description would sugar coat their real appearance, but after reading a quote from someone who has the experience during the war, it completely changed my view of the SS. Elli makes them seem like monsters from a nightmare. When she says that the SS don’t look human I think she meant that they are like aliens, they are not familiar to her and basically that they are cruel and scary. When she explains that they bark orders I made a connection to very strict substitutes at school because when some substitutes want to get your attention they shout/bark commands or instructions for us to follow. This can relate to my book because the Jewish people had to follow orders and commands just like us but they had a tremendous amount of more tasks. I was thinking is this really how the Jews saw them? As nasty cruel animals? That’s pretty much how she made them sound and I don’t blame her. After what they did to these innocent people I would be surprised if anybody didn't hate them.
I agree with you they probably were terrified by the SS. Genocide is not something to take easy it is very serious and can effect many people like it did to Elli. In the SS point of view they saw the Jews as a minority. I recently did a wiki on Genocide which i can relate to this because in my situation the people getting attacked sometimes defended themselves. But in your case the Jews were powerless.It is interesting because I never knew about people in masks. I am glad this changed your mind about the SS there should be no respect for what they did. And the fact that Jews feel like they have suffered a long time is a relevant remark.
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