"The Last Days" was a fascinating movie. I was surprised I ended up learning so much about The Holocaust and am glad the movie taught me many new things, as well as refreshed my mind on some things I had previously forgotten.
In the video, Tom told us how he was caught with out his yellow star, which he had to wear to signify his Jewish heritage. Because of this, he was put into a labor camp, which he escaped from and joined the Hungarian Underground, of which I know nothing, though I plan to learn about it.
I was shocked that Irene's neighbors turned on the Jews of their town. As the Jews were being gathered up and marched out of their homes, she told us that shouts of "About time!" and "We don't need any Jews in this town," were heard. Later in the movie, Irene went to see her childhood home. Her neighbor remembered her and was very nice to her, which I was angry about because of their previous disloyalty.
The Germans were very cruel yet clever in their rounding up and shipping off of the Jews. If there was any doubt in one's Jewish heritage, they would check for circumcision. Once they had rounded up all the Jews they could find, they took them to various concentration camps and horrible fates. By telling them that going to work in the vineyards was voluntary, they knew that the people would volunteer to get onto the trains. Compared to where they were, working long days in a vineyard would seem like Heaven. Yet they were packed into trains like sardines, excited about working. For days they stayed in these trains with approximately 120 people per box car with one pail for a bathroom and no food or water. The odor was horrible and it was very dark. Once they reached their destination, doors opened. The Jews were blinded by the sudden light, they had fresh air, and their hopes were high that they would be fed and given water and the chance to use a bathroom. But they had not reached a vineyard.
