Expansion in Holocaust Knowledge

Over the course of the novel, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy, I acquired knowledge about how Jews in Poland lied to survive, how the SS conducted themselves, and how people were sorted in concentration camps. Jewish boys in Poland would lie and say that they are another religion, so they wouldn't be shot if the SS checked their body. Boys and girls would dye their hair blond and chop off the curls, to hide their identity- it got to the point where the boys and girls couldn't remember who they used to be. Despite the hidden identity, these actions were necessary to survive. The SS were disgusting people, who could never be considered humane. They shot children, and elderly citizens for being a certain race or religion. However those actions were obvious- not many people know that they would have blood transfusions with Aryan women and children. They would torture people, and use them, as well as kill them. The SS also sent people to concentration camps and decided who would be killed, and who would be worked to the death. I learned that elderly people, children, and most women were to be killed. Previously, I believed that children may have been kept, for their energy and small hands. Every new fact that I learned about the Holocaust was even more appalling and callous.

In the end of The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, Hansel and Gretel survived and found their father at a soup kitchen for Jews after the war. It was a settling ending, because Gretel also regained her memory, and wasn't crazy. However, Magda died, and became one of the 6 million "stars" in the sky, after being gassed and burned at a concentration camp. The way Louise Murphy chose to end the book reflected on her view of how it was possible to survive the Holocaust, but avoiding the death of at least one family member or loved one was inevitable, and heart-breaking. Overall, most of the problems that emerged were resolved, therefore confirming the theme of the novel. Louise Murphy was trying to demonstrate how to the Jews in the Holocaust, life was viewed in a negative way, and death was viewed in a more positive and hopeful way: their views were a direct product of the malicious attitude of the Nazis and the SS. Magda's death was written in a peaceful way, escaping into heaven to be one of the 6 million stars in the sky. This reflected on Murphy's message communicated throughout the whole story, and left you at ease. The way Louise Murphy ended The True Story of Hansel and Gretel was allaying, by describing the topic of death in a positive way, and tying together the theme of how life was negative, and death was positive, in the Jewish victims' perspective.