— What did you learn from this story that you did not previously know about life in Nazi concentration camps?
–This story can be described as a kind of “initiation story” for the narrator. How is he changed or transformed by the events of the narrative?
–A tall, grey-haired woman who has just arrived on the “transport” whispers, “My poor boy,” to our narrator. What does she mean?
–“Are we good people?” asks our narrator. What is this exchange about? What do you think?
–Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.” What seems strange about it?
The story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” is significant because of the tone it sets for the story. It shows how normalized this inhumane and unethical behavior had become in that time. They normalized the killing of the innocence. The title in itself is strange because it is presented in a joyful manner. Someone who says “this way to the ….” sounds like a presentation of a show or theater play.
The title of the story makes me think that people are being invited to some exciting fun places. It sounds like a show or drama is going to happen. It has a humble and respectful tone. But the story is totally opposite of the title. It almost sounds like an irony. People are treated inhumanely and they are being dragged to their own death forcefully.
–A tall, grey-haired woman who has just arrived on the “transport” whispers, “My poor boy,” to our narrator. What does she mean?
Contrary to what we had discussed in class, there does seem to be a sense of sarcasm in the grey-haired woman’s words. Moments before the encounter the narrator explodes saying “Take them, for God’s sake!” while he is holding corpses of babies. The woman’s words seem to target the narrator in the sense to discredit his sympathy for others, while he is holding corpses of babies he does not think what they have gone through or the women he is trying to give them to. Rather he is just focused on himself, whereas his troubles may seem minimal compared to the people departing from the train that’s leading them to their final destination, death. So the woman saying “My poor boy” can be seen as sarcastic as someone would mockingly say “you poor thing” when somebody amplifies a small issue as a big deal compared to a bigger issue at hand. The small issue being his annoyance of having to get rid of the babies compared to her certain death as well as the babies death.
— What did you learn from this story that you did not previously know about life in Nazi concentration camps?
I learned that not all the people lived in Nazi’s concentration camps were kill. There are people from different places in the camp not only Jews. Nazi is an evil organization its behavior has go against the right humanity. People who lived in Nazi’s camp have been tortured. They have to endure horrible things everyday which they have never encounter before. Life in the camp not only cause damage to prisoners’ physical body but also makes them losing the hope for live.
Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.” What seems strange about it?
The title of the story is in an inviting tone. It also sets a tone of leading someone somewhere. It has a sort of inhumane quality to it. It shows that human beings were no longer considered worthy of anything. Which is exactly what the holocaust was. The title perfectly complies with the events in the story. The people during the holocaust were lead to their deaths like the title’s tone of leading people somewhere.
“Are we good people?” asks our narrator. What is this exchange about? What do you think?
The narrator asks this to his friend because he personally felt guilt handling the dead babies waiting for a woman to come and claim it. The ‘grey-haired’ lady that did come and claim the babies added a “poor boy” comment and thats what I believe caused the guilt. The narrator asks because he realizes that every person at the camp was in some shape or form was doing something horrible. Whether it be the nazis who killed jews, to the prisoners/narrator himself who was taking part in helping the nazis, even though it was through force. The narrator realizes a poisonous environment all through Auschwitz and the holocaust itself has created this atmosphere of survival and everyone is doing some sort of wrong.
Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.” What seems strange about it?
The language used in the title is significant for its hypocrisy because it is as if the prisoners are being welcomed into an amusement park. However, they are being directed to death and the use of “ladies and gentlemen” undermines the severity of the nature of the torture these people are about to face. It trivializes the harshness of the gas chambers and what it meant for many Jewish men and women at the time.
The significance of the title This way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, is that it relates sarcasm. The title is sarcastic because the act of sending people to the gas chambers is a heinous act, while the description in the title is courteous and polite. I believe that the impact of the title, is that it draws readers into the story. It makes readers curious about the difference between the acts of the Nazi’s and the ways in which it is described in this title. I believe that Borowski understood the contrast of his title and the actions of the people he was describing. His choice to title his story this way, leads to his readers starting the story with curiosity and an open mind.
— What did you learn from this story that you did not previously know about life in Nazi concentration camps?
What i learned about life in Nazi concentration camps, that i haven’t learned before was that the some of the actual Nazi’s were in pain themselves. Borowski himself was anxious and scared whenever more Jews would come to the concentration camps. This is because, he knew they were going to die while they did know. As a person who loots the Jews belongings as they arrive to the camp, Borowski says that its barbaric. He has to watch and participate in the barbaric treatment they undergo. This shows that the Nazi’s, to an extent, knew that what they were doing was inhumane and dehumanizing. If he didn’t have to partake in the things Nazi’s do, he would have never done it.
Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.” What seems strange about it?
This is a very strange title indeed. “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.” should not be said all so calmly and making it seem normal. Its basically saying this way is your death please proceed. Normally this way to the event or anywhere is some form of gentle and polite communication. But this title has a very cruel meaning to it as it entails no mercy for the jews who are directed to the gas chambers. It was a norm at the concentration camps to take the jews towards their death and then their bodies taken away, as the narrator did. So this title is in a way sarcastic.
The title is strange because it gives the moment leading to the gas chambers a spectacle aspect. It just shows you how sick the Nazis were and their little to no care for these people. It does a great job at setting the tone for the story which should of been hatred since the beginning.
The title of the story reminds me of a show or a circus. The fact that the “Gas” refers to a gas chamber, the suffering a death of someone being illustrated in the title as a “show” is monstrous and deconstructive in humanity.
I never took the time to study in-depth about these times of history. I learned that prisoners of that time were now killed swiftly but tortured with no mercy many different ways. Jews were a major population in these camps but they were not the only type of beings that were prisoners.
What did you learn from this story that you did not previously know about life in Nazi concentration camps?
I’ve always thought that all the people in the concentration camps were Jewish and they were all sent to be killed. The story, and our discussion in class, revealed that there were people other than Jews who were at the camps. Several were there as workers who sought to the aftermath of the deaths.