Lost Freedom

The establishment of ghettos marked the end of freedom of movement for Jews.  Write about what freedom means to you in your life and what you think it would mean to lose it. (Echoes and Reflections)

Jews lost their freedom when the Ghettos were built and ready to take them in.  Freedom to me is everything, most Jews lived lives exactly like ours with freedom and hope. The Jews lived in Ghettos where food was scarce, employment was hard and disease was everywhere. They lost their freedom to live where they want and eat what they want. Freedom means a lot to me, I love having the freedom to believe what I want to believe in, eat what I want, do what I want, etc... When Hitler came to power in 1933 and by 1939/1940, Jews were being transported to camps and ghettos to scare them and make life miserable. Their freedom which they thought would always be theirs was gone. I would not be happy if my freedom was taken away from me, for someone to control my life and I have no say in anything. Losing freedom means losing everything because if you do not have the freedom to eat what you want, or go where you want you can’t eat or live like you use to. In The Pianist, Wladyslaw was not able to go into the coffee shop to get some coffee with his friend. This shows me that slowly the Nazis took away their freedom. Also in The Pianist Wladyslaw and his family were forced out their old home into a new smaller home in the ghettos with much less space and privacy. The ghettos they were moved into were overcrowded and filled with poor and homeless kids, adults, elderly, etc... I do not think this is a good way to live.  The most valuable freedoms were taken away from the Jews and they had to live in a tough, crowded place until they were transported into camps for hard labor and death. Overall, freedom is one of the most precious human qualities to me and I would not be able to keep moving if it was suddenly gone.