INTRODUCTION:
When I became a freshman at Westborough High School my older brother had graduated the year before. He told me about most of the teachers and who were his favorites. One name that came across many times was Mr. Gallagher. My brother had him for sophomore U.S. History and so did I. He teaches a class called Facing History and Ourselves. When I first heard about it, my friends that took it told me it was about the Holocaust and based around Adolf Hitler. I never got to go into the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. so I did not know much about it. When Mr. Gallagher’s U.S. history was getting to an end he brought in some speakers that graduated the year before to talk about the class. They said to take it because it will change you and I did not know what they meant by it so I never took it for granted. As I was picking my classes for Junior year my guidance counselor told me this would be a great class, and from having Mr. Gallagher I knew he was a fantastic teacher, and that he was possibly retiring after next year so I thought it may be my only chance so I signed up thinking what the hell.
When I got my schedule for junior year I saw that I had gotten into Facing History, I was thrilled! First semester ended and class started. Now I am at the last few weeks of junior year and I can say the class has changed me. Mr. Gallagher was a fun teacher, and he knew so much about everything which made the class very interesting, and he liked to joke around. The class wasn’t just about the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler; he taught us how to stand up for ourselves, Identity, Society, WWI and WWII. At the beginning of the class we read a short book called The Bear Who Wasn't. It taught me that no matter who you are or whta you look like everybody is equal and should be treated fairly. The bear could do everything the humans could do and did not want to work in the factory, he wanted to be a regular bear but the company kept saying that he was just a hairy man, so he had to keep working.
I have changed in a good way because the Holocaust and the World Wars were interesting to me, and by taking this class he went into deeper thought and detail to most things and really explained everything to the fullest. We watched many videos about all of the things he taught us which were great and he always had the most interesting movies or documentaries. I was not the best student in school but after Mr. Gallagher and his teaching styles, it has helped me have more respect for Mr. Gallagher and the other teachers in school, and to be a better student.
What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me:
This Year I took a class called Facing History and Ourselves. I had heard about it throughout my High School years and was told to check it out. At the start of the year I had known Mr. Gallagher because I had him the year before. At the start of the year I though the class was just about Nazi’s, World War One and Two, and the Holocaust, but the first lesson we did was about a bear that was told he was not a bear. I did not understand the book at all until in class we discussed it. From that point on I was waiting for us to start the wars, and did not think about the other stuff. After a few discussions and films watched I learned that the class wasn’t just about that, it was about our self-identities and society. Everyone that takes this class has told me it’s changed them in a way. It is hard to describe without actually taking this class, to understand it, but I can say it has changed me. I never went to the Holocaust museum so I did not know much about the Holocaust because teachers never do it to full detail like Mr. Gallagher. He tries to get kids to understand and know the truth about the whole story.
At the end of the year we recently watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I had seen the movie besides the ending so it was a surprise to me until just the other day. That movie was the most touching story I have ever seen because it was based on a true story. It was a better film because it wasn’t mostly based on the fact that the boy went into the camp to find his new friends dad, but on the kid’s life having a Jewish friend inside the camp and what it was like for a younger boy. It was worse when the mother did not know what her husband was doing for a job, knowing that he was killing thousands of Jews by burning and torturing them. Seeing the Holocaust from a young boys inside the camps point of view was moving because it showed how little of a heart the Germans had for killing innocent people because of their religion or race. The father and Bruno had a special relationship before they moved. He was a German leader who was in charge of the Concentration Camps, but he didn’t know that his son had made a friend that was in the camp. When the father realized that his boy was missing and went looking for him I was devastated. Thinking that the father was the one who killed his own son really brings out a different side to the whole point of the movie. It shows that even though things may be well, in reality it is yourself that brings you further away from your life. I cannot begin to think about how the father must have felt that he had killed his son, in the same way that he was killing the Jews. It really shows that the Jewish people in those camps were no different than his own son. He knows now how the Jews felt when they were killed or their family was killed because he was in their shoes. 
We watched many films throughout the class like The Pianist, The Warshaw Uprising, Swing Kids, and many documentaries and other movies. My favorite one was The Pianist. It was about a family of Jews in the ghetto in Germany where all of the Jewish religion families had to live during World War II. At one point in the movies a troop of German Nazi’s went into a Jewish families home when they were eating and told them all to stand up, but an elder man was in a wheel chair and could not so two soldiers took him over to the third floor balcony and lifted him up and dropped him over the edge to die. Right then, even though it was a movie, it changed everything I had ever thought about the 1940’s. This was meaningful to me because it made me realize how cruel people can be and have to feelings towards others, especially to those who are helpless or different. I wouldn’t be in a situation where a man in a wheel chair is thrown out of a window but, the fact that people can be that mean sickens me, and that I would do something to intervene and help someone in that situation because of this movie. The films we watched were about true events and stories during the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler was known to be a crazy man but was able to help Germany’s economic struggle but after seeing in depth how many Jews he killed and the gruesome things he did, I have no thought or respect for him. Another movie we watched was the Warshaw Uprising. It was about the ghetto that the Jews were kept in and how they decided to rebel and stand up for themselves. They killed the German soldiers and took their guns while they had men and women sneaking out of the ghetto to get supplies to rebel. After they had enough to fight back they did, the Germans did not know what to do so they retreated back. The next day they came in with tanks and many more soldiers, but yet again they retreated. This movie really showed how they were sick of the crap they had to take from the Germans and that they wanted their freedom. A specific lesson I was taught was that people can try and make their bad situation better, even though they may have lost or will lose, knowing that you have tried and made a difference, you will always win.
This course has benefited me in many ways. I have learned how to stand up for something or step in on a problem to help stop it instead of watching. Mr. Gallagher has taught us how to be ourselves and how to teach others to be well throughout their lives and not to discriminate against others. I will be honest I have called kids names, or been the victim of bullying, and it is not okay. At times during class Mr. Gallagher he would give a little speech on how to respect others when they are taking and also went on about how to respect them. Discrimination is illegal and a hate crime, which is why after this class whenever I see kids bullying or being bullied I will, and have, stepped in to stop it. I recommend that every student that has the opportunity to take this class should because it will change you.
Works Cited:
Adolf Hitler and Army. Google Images. Online Images.24May2012.
The Bear Who Wasn’t. Google Images. Online Images.24May2012.
The Pianist. Google Images. Online Images.24May2012.
Stop Bullying Logo. Google Images. Online Images.24May2012.
Warshaw Uprising. Google Images. Online Images.24May2012.
