Thomas Buergenthal's A Lucky Children

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The Power of the Past: A Look at the Impact of the Holocaust on Identity in Thomas Buergenthal’s A Lucky Child. Although many people might like to believe that their past does not determine who they are today, this is not entirely true. Human beings are greatly influenced by past experiences, whether this be in a positive or negative manner. The things people undergo during their youth, good and bad, consistently shape their perspectives, values, and interactions with the rest of society. Thomas Buergenthal suffered horrific trauma at a young age, which exerted influence on him for the rest of his life. His time in the Holocaust had a tremendous impact on who he was during the war and the person he grew up to become. His toxic surroundings …show more content…

Thomas became extremely resilient and persevered when faced with hardship. This was not at all unusual, as children often must “pay for [the trauma of war they experience] throughout their lives” (Zessin-Jurek). According to Shira Birnbaum, author of Trauma and Resilience in Holocaust Memoir, resilience is a quality that many child survivors of the Holocaust develop. Surviving in concentration camps that were designed to weed out Jewish youth called for the heightened “resilience of child Holocaust survivors” that they developed out of pure necessity (Zessin-Jurek). That resilience, along with a bit of luck and a few helpful strangers, was Thomas’ main saviour during the war. It certainly also proved helpful to him with his many achievements throughout the rest of his life. After his liberation from Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Thomas lived in a Jewish orphanage in Poland. For over a year, there was no indication that either of his parents had survived the war, so Thomas had to explore other options for his …show more content…

It should therefore not be a surprise to anyone that the terrible crimes and cruelties experienced by human beings in many parts of the world since the Holocaust do not weaken my commitment to human rights. Instead, they reinforce my belief in the need to work ever harder to promote human rights education at all levels and to strengthen international and national legal and political institutions capable of making it ever more difficult for governments to violate human rights. 222. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'

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