Bells:
Why doesn't the father, who is told that if he dares to rebel, his family will be killed before his very eyes, fight back? Does it make him a "villainous" coward to go to his death knowing he may, just may have saved his family? Hardly. To me he is the bigger hero. It is the act of a coward to attempt to save oneself when one knows that doing so will end in the suffering, torture and death of hundreds of others. It is the act of a hero to accept one's fate and do so with the conviction that one may have just saved someone else.
The Jews did not know what awaited them at the camps. They did not even know where they were going until they arrived. When they did arrive, any attempt to rebel would see dozens shot and ordered to obey or face an instant death. So why would you risk a certain death and attempt to be the hero, as portrayed by PJ, when simply following the orders of the soldiers might have just meant they survived?
In line with SamCDKey pointing out my support of samurai ethics, I will quote from Yamamato Tsunetomo's "Hagakure" (The Shadow of the Leaves):
"The Way of the Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and advance. To say that dying without reaching one's aim is to die a dog's death is the frivolous way of sophisticates. When pressed with the choice of life or death, it is not necessary to gain one's aim. We all want to live. And in large part we make our logic according to what we like. But not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice. This is a thin dangerous line. To die without gaining one's aim is a dog's death and fanaticism. But there is no shame in this. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai. If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling. "
"The way of revenge lies in simply forcing one's way into a place and being cut down. There is no shame in this. By thinking that you must complete the job you will run out of time. By considering things like how many men the enemy has, time piles up; in the end you will give up. No matter if the enemy has thousands of men, there is fulfillment in simply standing them off and being determined to cut them all down, starting from one end. You will finish the greater part of it. "
If there is truly a fear for one's family or one's compatriots, the proper way is to dispatch of them yourself. For in so doing you can assure both their honourable deaths and a minimalization of their suffering.
An ex-girlfriend of mine had confided in me that she believes in a past life she suffered through the holocaust. Although I am skeptical of any such claims, that is not important. In this life, she said she had two children. When she got to the camp, she took a large rock, and smashed both their heads in. She was later shot in the face.
This was the proper thing to do.
Ultimately, survival is not the end all, be all. There is a time to kill and a time to die.
Any who tried to rebel or fight back as PJ would expect them too, were instantly killed as were anyone around them.
Indeed. Such would have been their fate.
Sure they could have fought back. But how? They were starved, robbed of their identity and were only known as Jews, they were beaten, tortured and demeaned before being sent to the death camps.
All the more reason to throw their lives away and attain victory in death. Better that one die with the blood of one's enemies on one's hand.
Demean and abuse someone for years and years, starve them and beat them with threats of death, and that person will end up believing you and will most probably do all that you say to ensure their very existence.
That is still cowardice.
The Jews did not fight back simply because by the time they go to the death camps, they were in no physical position to be able too.
All the more reason...