Critical Thinking/Discussion Questions - Ruth Diamond

1. In the film (1:20), Ruth says that she and her sister Helen were together in the camp, “it just happened.” Compare and contrast their experience with that of survivor Jacob Kilstein and his brother.

2. Review the film and transcript for the information Ruth Diamond shares about food. About liberation she says, “We couldn't believe it. I knew it was real when they opened the gates and we could walk through. We could finally eat again.” What circumstances in the labor camp led Ruth to so look forward to eating? How did the Nazis use food and lack of food as a tool in the Holocaust? View the quote and links below to research and support your hypothesis.

“Starvation diet. Not enough to live, and not enough to die.”

–Jack Weiner, Survivor, Lodz Ghetto (quoted in the Colorado Independent).

“Meals” The Holocaust Explained.
http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-camps/daily-life/meals/#.Vy4P9mPCR0g

(n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-camps/daily-life/meals/#.WQYyEYnytBx

“Just A Normal Day in the Camps” Jewish Gen, Museum of Jewish Heritage
http://www.jewishgen.org/ForgottenCamps/Camps/DayEng.html

(n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from http://www.jewishgen.org/ForgottenCamps/Camps/DayEng.html