The opening sentence to the assigned reading is as follows: "The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally our illusions" (Wiesel 29).
Based on this quote, what do you believe were the "illusions" that they had left behind?
Your response must be 2 paragraphs in length. You must post it by Wednesday, 10/6 or Thursday, 10/7.
Also, write 5 comprehension questions for this section of text and bring those to class on Wednesday and Thursday to share with the class.
I think the quote in the story meant they left the hope to go back to Sighet and have a normal life again. It is because as they arrived to Birkenau, Jewish swere separated and were ordered to work. So maybe people thought that they will never get out of their work site.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost the same thing, but "illusion" might be dream. People had many dreams, but because they arrived at Birkenau, and they knew they were going to treat bad, they lost hope and dream.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJewish people left their belongings in the wagon and went to Birkenau. But there was something else they left behind, was their illsion.
ReplyDeleteI think illusion that this quote is talking about is happiness and hope. As they get off the wagon and arrive to Birkenau, they lose the idea of family staying together and they think most likely they will be killed. When they get off the wagon, they recognize all of their hopes and hapiness were just illusions.
by Kyong Yong Kim
B4 Literature
Jewish people had to leave all of their property, including expensive metals, houses and basically their regular lives. After they were told to get inside the wagons, they had no idea what will happen next. In the cars people didn't know yet where exactly they are going. Based on that, I can say that Jews still had some hope or "illusions" that they will get back home soon and be with their families.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as people arrive to Berkenau, their illusions immediately break, because they understand that nothing good will happen. During the ride to Berkenau, Jewish people had those dreams in their minds that everything that's going on right now isn't true due to suspense.
All the jewish people left Sighet and went to Birkena. They left Sighet by a wagon.In Birkena what the jewish people had to do is work. Thats why they thought that they cant go back to their peaceful and normal life again. When they left Sighet they have left something very important and thats illusion.
ReplyDeleteThe illusion in this quote is happiness. When they left the Sighet they left illusion. That means they left their happiness when they left Sighet. That also mean that he wont get his hopes and happiness back when they left Sighet.
When the germans occupied jewish towns ,homes they take what ever valubles they find and they will force the jews to leave their homes and put in to ghettoes or consantration camps. I think this quote means that the jews were moved place to place and they thought they can go home soon but when they see the auswitz in the wagon cars you lost hope and gave up illusion.
ReplyDeleteThe jews had to work and do labers. It was just a matter of time when they cant take it any more of hard labor and starvation. Also the gas chambers or thrown in to the flames or get shot. It was very sad what a human can do to a same human.
In a way I have a feeling that the quote is referring to death for these people. Because it says: "finally our illusions". And Illusions could be a symbol of death, or dying.
ReplyDeleteBut it also could be talking about the bad events that these people faced, and finally they are moving on from that. Because the quote says left behind, so maybe they are forgetting the past, and moving on to the future. In the future, you do not know what exactly will happen, so maybe that is what the quote means by illusions.
What I came up from the quote in the story is that the definition of the "illusion". It is an erroneous concept of belief. All of their precious belonging has been left and something many people believed in, their hope. Hope to be things were supposed to be, peaceful life.
ReplyDeleteLeaving their "illusions", they had to face the reality where they saw what happened. Where people were seperated from their family, and had been forced to work. Eventually they "left behind" their "illusions" which probably means moving on and actually face it.
After the Germans took over the control of Jews, all the innocents Jews had to give away their belongings, their houses, jewelries, families, and their lives. When leaving the ghetto and to the camp, the only thing the people can do was pray. But, after discovering that the Germans would kill ‘em all, they had lost their last belonging, their hope. When the quote ended with the word illusion, it sounded as if their life aren’t worth anything anymore. Just a human crap under a total control of the bummers, working and killing for their rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteAll of the Jewish people had to leave Sighet. They all went to Birkena because they had to work. The Jewish were sent by a wagon leaving all their belongings. That time, they had hope, illusions that they can go back and have a normal life again.
ReplyDeleteThe illusion of the quote is happiness. But when they arrive in Birkena they found out what really was going to happen. So they recognize that it was just an illusion about the happiness.
Lisa Tashiro
A1 Literature
So Jewish people went to Birkenau but actually they didn't know where they were going. At Birkenau the Jewish people worked hard. And they thought they will never go back to normal life.
ReplyDeleteI think illusion in this quote is their happiness,or their dreams or their hopes. So when they left Sighet, they lost their happiness, and also their peace.
I think the 'illusions' the book refers to is actually the hopes the people have. I think the Jewish were fantasizing that they would be okay once they reached the holocaust, but in truth, they were very wrong. I think that the moment when they reached the holocaust, the Jewish realized that they had been very wrong. Everything was not fine.
ReplyDeleteI think also that since the belongings they brought with them were the only things that remained, which tied them to their homes, it came to a real shock for the belongings to be taken away from them. They must have lost everything then. Their hope, dreams, happiness and even the will to live. These people literally lost everything they had and believed in.
Zen Sugino
A2 Literature
I think for the 'illusions' is that the quote is their happiness and lost their happiness. So the Jewish is left behind by their family.
ReplyDeleteI think it also that Jewish people reached their holocaust in a truth and sometimes its wrong.
After reading the book until the end of this chapter, the feeling and the confusions of the Jewish people taken away appeared. The illusions mentioned here, have two meanings. The most obvious way of understanding this quote is that they finally got over the illusions that was seen from the wagons. To some of the people, the conditions in the wagon were too harsh which made them look things that weren't real.
ReplyDeleteThe other way of seeing this is more figured, more implicit. It describes the change happening in the life of those innocent jews. Although they were taken away from their homeland and were put into difficult situations and conditions in the wagons, they still had some hope for living. But from the moment they got off the wagons, they could see the reality and with this vision of life, all of their hope were gone.
The "The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally our illusions" mean that the Jew's packages were taken away from them, like how their illusions were. It was their only HOPE that they had.
ReplyDeleteIn this quote, the term "Illusion" means that of things that people were thinking of, as they thought would be. They understood the reality, after getting off of the wagons. Their "illusions" were finally gone.
I think the "illusion" means the hope that the Jews will get back home and be with their families. I think the Jews thought every thing will be fine, but it didn't turn out fine. That time, they had hope; "illusions" that they will soon go back home, and live with their families.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Jews arrived to Birkenau, they needed to work hard. They immediatly lost their illusions because they thought nothing good will happend.
Katarina Kurosawa
A1
Literature
I think the quote means that they have no more hope of going back to their country Sight, because the Jewish arrived to Birkenau. I think the Jewish people thought they are never going to get out of work site.
ReplyDeleteAlso the last part, I think it means that they lost their hope but also their dreams. I think the Jewish people thinks they lost everything they had when they came to Birkenau.
I think this quote means that they had left their belongings on the wagon, as if their hope was also taken away from the gestapos. The term 'Illusion' means the peoples hope they had; the peoples thoughts when they thought that a miracle will happen to them.
ReplyDeleteThe Jews lost there "illusion" when they had finally came to Birkenau.
Isshin Mido
A1 Literature
i think the illusion they left was the hope to go back to Romania. And also the hope to live in peace for ever. And I think, that the first illusion I said could be possible, but I think the second one is not much possible, because someone related to him could die.
ReplyDeleteBut I think illusion means only doesnt mean dream, but hope. I think everyone has hope. Of course I think Elizer has a hope to live peacefully with his family friends, and relatives.
A1 literature
lyu hiroyeaema
My opinion about the quote is that in the last stop, Auschwitz, they were forced to leave prized possessions behind on the wagon. The part were it says "illusions" means that after believing they were being taken to a better place they soon realized that they were truly wrong. For the first time they realized Madame Schachter was some sort of prophet and knew what was actually going to happen to them. Also, "illusions" was another way of saying hope. Before that everything the Jews thought about was hope.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Jews realized they wrong, the proof was that they saw fire (smoke) they realized Madame Schachter was right and her illusions. The second proof was the odor of burning meat. The third was that they started seeing barbed wires making the area somewhat restricted (they weren't capable of getting out). The fourth was that there were SS's. There were a few SS's just targeting people which made all hope go away.
A2 Literature
Enrique Lopez
My opinion about the quote is that in the last stop, Auschwitz, they were forced to leave prized possessions behind on the wagon. The part were it says "illusions" means that after believing they were being taken to a better place they soon realized that they were truly wrong. For the first time they realized Madame Schachter was some sort of prophet and knew what was actually going to happen to them. Also, "illusions" was another way of saying hope. Before that everything the Jews thought about was hope.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Jews realized they wrong, the proof was that they saw fire (smoke) they realized Madame Schachter was right and her illusions. The second proof was the odor of burning meat. The third was that they started seeing barbed wires making the area somewhat restricted (they weren't capable of getting out). The fourth was that there were SS's. There were a few SS's just targeting people which made all hope go away.
A2 Literature
Enrique Lopez
sorry, accident did it with my moms account
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ReplyDeleteI think the quote means that the people want to live freely and they dont want to be disturbed.
ReplyDeleteThey had to leave their most beloved possesions on the wagon. The "illusion" is the hope they still were holding. They were praying that a miracle would happen, that they would be able to go home.
Before the jewish people got their they thought they were being taken to somewhere less violent.
When they got their they realized they were wrong. They seen buring bodys, the awful oder of bodies. They saw barbed wires surrounding them and that is when they new there was no way out.
A1 Literature
Amy Young
In my opinion, the term "illusions" in the quote refers to any sense of hope, or any thought that the turn of events that were happening in front of the Jew's eyes was really fake, and that in reality, everything a hoax, or a bad dream. The author uses the analogy of the Jews leaving their possessions behind, "as well as their illusions", which was a great way to get the message across to the reader.
ReplyDeleteDuring the events of Auschwitz, the author says at one point "I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real. A nightmare perhaps...Soon I would wake up with a start, my heart pounding, and find that I was back in the room of my childhood, with my books...", and determines that he really was in reality.
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ReplyDeleteWhen the Jews left their village, they were taking one fork and one spoon and their family things. They were taking hope and they were not allowed to take money, metals, gold, silver, etc. They were put on a truck and in one truck there were 80 people in the truck in their journey and many people died. Some people were alive and when they got off the truck they were so happy to be alive and they forgot their bags and hopes and everything on the truck.
ReplyDeleteI think the word illusion means their hopes for not being killed, for a happy life, for no Germans in their life.
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ReplyDeleteJanet Choi
ReplyDeleteA1 Honors
I think the "illusions" in the quote meant Jewish people's hopes to go back to their town safely and live peacefully as they were before. When people were transported in cattle cars, they were still not sure of what was going to happen to them. They still had some hope that they were going to be safe and will soon be able to return to their homes.
But when they arrived at the camp, they saw the burning flames and chimney, and the Gestapo immediately separated men and women and threatened them with guns, so their hopes disappeared with the possessions they had.
+ I'm sorry about the deleted comment!
I think the author used the term "illusions" to symbolize that they have no where else to go, or that they will need to face death from now on. The way that they said "illusions" could have been what Moishe the Beadle described or the fire Mrs. Shacter was talking about. It recounts on how they will need to deal with life, no more happiness, no more prayers and no more of what they used to do in normal life.
ReplyDeleteIn another way it could also mean that the Jewish people had lost their faith towards their religion, and they will need to start believing on what some other people think. However this works out for only some people because they cannot change the fact that they are Jewish. They are who they are and people need to appreciate it for how they are. So this may be what Jewish believers thought. But basically what this sentence means could be anything.
The Jewish left behind their belongings, homes, and almost everything, but they did not expect more to be left behind as well. When they arrived at the camp, their "illusions" disappeared into nothingness as well.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the "illusions" they left behind, were the dreams and hopes of their future lives. I assume they knew that they would never be able to live long, never able to have a great education and career, and that they would never be able to live freely and peacefully. They thought this because when they got to Birkenau, Auschwitz concentration camp, they saw that the camp was a horrible place with crematoriums, no food, and forced labor. If they did not do what they were told to do, they would be beaten to death. The Nazis were horrible to the Jewish, and because of them, they had no hope, dreams or happiness.
I think what the opening sentence/quote meant that their hopes and their memories will never be the same again like before. I suppose that the words "beloved objects" meant about their hope, experiences, and their encouragement of their lives. I also thought the first time that this quote might mean about how the Germans forced the Jews to take away their possessions. (Auschwitz)
ReplyDeleteThis section of the sentence: "with them, finally their illusions" meant that they have left behind their peaceful memories about Sighet. I guess the word "illusions" meant about their memories back in Sighet because if the Jews were still living peacefully, I don't think that Eliezer Viesel would use the word "illusions" to describe the memories back in Sighet. However, "illusions" might mean that the thought when the Jews thought the whole Holocaust was fake, but the Jews are "leaving behind" their thoughts when they arrive to Birkenau and now they know its for real.
oops, by the way, it's Lisa Shimazaki, A1 Literature
ReplyDeletesorry!!!
I think the quote about the illusion means that the Jews left their hopes that they might not be killed, and that they could go back home peacefully. The Jews were sent to concentration camps in the small cattle cars, but they still had hope that the camp wasn’t a bad place. But when they got there, their hopes, or illusions went away.
ReplyDeleteThe Jews had to leave their all of their precious belongings, and their illusions. After arriving at the camp, they saw all of the things that had happened there, and suddenly realized that they were mistaken about all their illusions.
Meg Allison
A1 World Literature
By reading this quote i thought that this "illusion" means about there life they have during the camp. They didnt know where they were pulled into, and it was a place where they had to work. They were treated as if they were welcomed, with the sign saying "work is liberty" which is not true. I think these kinds of irony caused the people to be thinking this was an "illusion".
ReplyDeleteTheir beloved objects that they left behind was i think their happiness, and their good times. I think this was written this way, because i think their happiness felt larger than just a feeling, so they compared with an object.
Jun Ogawa
A2 World literature
To me the quote is that in the last stop, Auschwitz, they were forced to leave their own prized possessions in the wagon. The part when he says "illusions" so that means that some believed they were being to taken to a good place till they soon realized that they were completely wrong. For the first time they finally realized that Madame Schachter was some sort of prophet and knew that this was going to happen to them. Illusions can also mean the it was a dream or hope for a better place. Everything about the illusions was hope to the jews and they left that behind.
ReplyDeleteWhen the people of the Jewish community realized that they wrong, the proof was that Madame Schachter and a bunch of other women saw a fire which was actually smoke and they realized Madame Schachter was right with her illusions. Another pieece of evidence was the odor of burning meat. The 3rd piece of evidence was that they started seeing barbed wires surrounding the area which made it look somewhat restricted. The final piece of evidence was that there were SS's, but there were a few SS's that were just targeting people which made everyone lose hope.
Kai Izumi
Class: B3
The opening sentence of the chapter meant that, with so much that was left behind, the Jews had lost their faith that they would live their lives in happiness, in their own town. The moment they saw the fire from the crematorium, the hope that they had for the long journey disappeared from their hearts.
ReplyDeleteThe section of the quote where it says "with them finally our illusions.", presumably illustrates the idea of the Jews creating a picture of hope in their minds that they wouldn't be treated in a cruel way. I think the word "finally" was used in the quote because the Jews had refused to think of depressing ideas for quite a long time, yet what they saw in front of them in the beginning of the chapter was the opposite of the illusions of happiness that they were imagining. They literally lost all their hope for a happy life.
Louis W
B3
I think the illusions that they had left behind is family. Eliezer thought that he would not be separated with his family. But when they got off from the wagon, SS man divided men and women and he lost his mother and sister.
ReplyDeleteAnother illusion is happiness. At first, they thought that nothing bad will happen. However, that illusion didn't come true and they had a sad feeling.
Ifumi Sato
A2
After I thought about the quote for some time, I came to a conclusion that the place that says 'and, with them, finally our illusions', I think that this means that the people who left the wagon finally left behind their thoughts of what they THOUGHT conditions were at the camp in Birkenau, because they actually arrived there and finally saw what it was really like. I think that the visions that were in there heads were scratched out and were replaced by worse ones.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that I got from this quote was that the people have basically lost hope of what they thought wasn't as bad. When one views harsh conditions such as the conditions in Birkenau, I would feel like my 'illusions' of better situations would be canceled out as well.
The Jews were to leave everything behind. By "finally the illusion" i think the author means that their hope were distroyed, what they wished for not to happen has really occured.
ReplyDeleteBefore they were sent to Auschwitz, the Jews in Sight were living in a closed community among themselves. Teenage boys like Elizer still had their dreams. Though there was rumour of the Gestapo, it was kept secret of what they did. People did not think war would reach them as well. Their illusions, their hope of the things that they were to face would be not as bad, the thought that families will still not be seperated, the belief that their lives would once be normal again. Everything they hoped, their "illusions" were gone and left behind just like any other stuff once they got out of the cattle and stepped on to the ground of Aushwitz.
A1 Catherine
"The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally our illusions"
ReplyDeleteThey have brought their beloved objects with them while they were carried to other place but they had to leave their stuffs because of gestapo. And the word illusions from that sentence shows many things but if I have to pick one then I would pick the word 'hope'. They were in wagon and carried to somewhere and pretty sure that they were hoping for something. That something would be like we will not be in bad place or we will go to better place. But they have arrived to their grave. So you can transulate the sentence as 'We had hope till we get there but since we get out from the wagon and left our stuffs our hope had disappear'. Basically they gave up.
Hyun-Ryung Yoo
A-1, HR Yoo
A1 Lit
ReplyDeleteMr. Phillips
Han Lee
what do you believe were the "illusions" that they had left behind?
Your response must be 2 paragraphs in length.
First of all, illusion means "something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality." So as for me, in this novel, I think one of the illusionns that the jews had left behind is as you could see in the novel, Mrs. Schachter saw a fire. That fire in this novel, night shows one of the illusions that we are talking about, because she has gone mad and seeing that illusion even there's no fire there.
Secondly, I think one of the illusions that the jews had left behind is as you could see in the novel, all the jews had to leave their valuable jewlries or possesions or bags in the train. In this one, illusion is their hopes. They had some hopes that they would be able to be alive and go back to home again. So those two were illusions in my opinion that jews had left behind.
The Jews thinked the Gestapoes would not come and they'll be safe, but later, they knew they were wrong. The Gestapoes came and they went to Auschwitz.
ReplyDeleteI think, the things that the Jews left behind was happiness. Because, if they listened Moishe the Beadle's story, they could alive and they could be with their families and friends. But, they didn't listened and were been killed.
A2 Seonji Kim
The sentence "The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally our illusions" (Wiesel 29), illusions meant dreams, or imaginary, but the other meaning is death.
ReplyDeleteThere were several examples of illusion. One of the illusion is that Mrs. Schacther saw an illusion of fire, and the place were they came had crematorium, where there was image of fire. During the time in the train, they have lost their illusion, which is an hope for their life with their loads. Their hope was a peace, no deaths, no Germans.
I think it means that they all left their hopes for living, their family, theirselves with their belongings. The Jewish people were told that they had to leave their properties, any valuable stuff. At one scene, people has to leave everything and be naked. Meaning that they're not worth much.
ReplyDeleteI think the illusion the people saw was their dream, their hope. By how the Concentration camp looks, they all thought that they're going to be killed. Also, the illusion might also be the illusion that Mrs.Schachter saw during the night in the train. She kept screaming, fire, fire, when there wasn't any flames. People got annoyed, but later on the real fire flames to the train. Her illusions were true.
Suzu Hiroyama
A1 Literature
Everyone left their possesions and headed where they were ordered to. And it says that they also left the "illusions". What I think about it is that illusions mean hopes for for suriviving the extermination, in this case.
ReplyDeleteIllusion also means something you saw which wasn't there (hallucinatig) - a false sight of something. Also, if we look at our vocabulary sheet, we can see the definition for an illusion is dream. So, illusions mean dreams (and hopes) which are most likely false, which Jews had and then when they realised that the dreams and hopes for surviving were false, those hopes & dreams became illusions - false hopes of survival.
By the way, rjkhemlani is Rohan
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that along with their belongings being taken, also their illusions. I think this particular illusion is the idea that the Gestapos were going to be hospitable towards them (the deportees) and that what Moshe the Beadle said was untrue. This illusion was metaphorically "left behind" with all of their past belongings.
ReplyDeleteAnother possibility would be that this illusion were their dreams and what they longed. The dreams they thought of while they were in the ghettos and when they were taken to labor camp. When they dreamed of freedom and justice. I think these could both be the possible illusions that Elie Wiesel was talking about.
Shannen Romero Perez
A2 World Literature
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ReplyDeleteI think the Jews were thinking everything will go back to normal until they were sent to Auschwitz. But when they were really sent to the concentration camp, their hope of going back to Sighet disappeared.
ReplyDeleteIf they believed Moishe the Beadle, the Jews might have been able to live but nobody did. Madame Schachter lost hope from the day the Jews were forced to get out of Sighet. I think other people thought she got mad until they really saw the fire. She might be an important character because she helped them notice that they might die soon.
A2 Anna I.
I think the last word of the sentence "illusions" refers to the hopes of the people and their beloved family. When the Jewish people had to leave the town, they left many things behind. They also had to separate with their family. Many people left their family behind. Women and Men were separated, healthy and non healthy people were separated too. Every one was separated from their parents and siblings.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought of the "illusions" that they left behind is hope. Many people were scared and all people left their hopes at their homes. The Jews thought they were gonna get killed but when they arrived at Austwich, I think their hopes came back. They thought they were gonna have a sweet life but it was a total wrong thought. One day, all of the people were going to get killed. There was no hope.
A2
Hugh Kawamura
The illusion that was left behind, mentioned at the opening sentence, probably meant that Elie had to leave his hopes and belief in good fortune behind. He had to stop believing that he would be able to stick with his family and live under acceptable conditions.
ReplyDeleteBefore he arrived at the camp, he probably had some hope that he would be able to be with his family and be able to live. However, when he saw the crematorium and the people killed and burned there, he saw that in reality, there was no such luck. The illusion described could also have been that he thought what he saw was an illusion. But he had to leave the illusion behind and see that it was reality and that it was not an illusion and lost his hope.
Lisa He A1
oops, sorry. i meant A2 Lit. not B3
ReplyDelete