Once incarcerated, Otto wants to keep busy and do as he’s ordered while Kurt wants to fight the system. Do you feel age plays a role or are their actions more related to their personalities? What would you have done in their place?
Age plays a role. Otto’s tendency to “normalize” camp life helps him from being discouraged. He’s productive. Kurt is younger. It seems he’s angrier as his future plans were denied. I didn’t sense a big difference in their core personalities. What I would have done depends on what women were allowed to do under the strict rules.
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I feel age can play a role in how we respond to problems; so can one’s personality. Either can embolden some people to challenege difficult situations. Youth sometimes doesn’t have enough life experience to foresee that being stubborn
can be taken as rebellion therefore causing harm. A more experienced person may calmly do what is ordered to assess what is expected of them to get along.
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I think with Kurt it is more about his personality than his age. He seems to act before thinking of consequences of his actions. I don’t see him as changing his behavior as an adult. His world is not as it should be and he is trying to make the best of it.
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I think it’s both. When I was in my 20s I went to a number of protests, while my younger sister never wanted to get involved. I think if I was in Kurt’s position I’d be very angry and would be acting out. Now that I’m in my 60s, though, I’m more likely to feel there’s not a lot I can do about the status quo, and I leave it to younger people to fight for their futures. Still, I don’t know that I’d be quite as complacent as Otto if I were in his shoes.
I felt sorry for Otto in this period. Yes, I think age played a major part in their different views, but I also appreciated Kurt’s translating for an older German man in the family camp. I was also understanding Otto’s reluctance to reject Germany for citizenship. It’s hard to fight the system for which you have been incarcerated. I was surprised that any Nazi sympathizers weren’t always punished.
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I agree that my protest days are few and far between. I have been in portests in my 70’s but, they have been issues in this country. My daughter is 42 and she protests even when she can’t change the outcome. She also uses her money to help the people she is protesting for. I applaud her. Nowadays, I fund charities that help those in my community and beyond to our country.
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I think age is a major factor. Older adults have experienced the results of “not getting along” and therefore are less likely to challenge the status quo. Consider the civil rights movement in the sixties. Without the fearlessness of young people many actions as we know them today would not have happened. In my youth I would have been more like Kurt, but now in my 70’s, I’m much more like Otto.
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Do you think today it’s an awareness of consequences, or do you think it’s a result of something else, like being tired, feeling like protesting doesn’t change anything, fear of being caught up in violence…?
I’m often a bit ashamed that I don’t get out there and make my voice heard (other than voting, of course) but I feel like for me, at least, it’s a combination of all of that.
All of the respondents have useful, valid and interesting comments that I agree with. However, I think another factor needs to be added. Otto was born and grew up in Germany and experienced WWI there. He came to the U.S.A. initially for land and his idea of freedom. Those growing up experiences also played a part in his actions and conversations both overtly and inadvertently.
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I can relate to your thoughts, Kim. There’s more violence and rage these days. I assume that when I’m in a crowd or even at a grocery store there are more people carrying guns and any trouble might result in gunfire. Sad, sad. I reframe from posting on most social media sites as retribution can be swift. And there in lies the difference for me - social media. Not a factor in the 1960’s-1970s when protesting on college campuses was an every day event.
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That’s a really good point, @Marion_Mueller. I know that even though I haven’t lived in Cleveland for over 40 years, I still consider it “home.”
Yeah, @NanK, I stick to safe subjects on social media, too. The other thing that has changed has been that there are cameras everywhere, and once a picture is posted to the internet it’s there forever.
For me, not being out there has more to do with stamina and inconvenience (getting to a protest; finding the closest bathroom, weather, etc). Also, I am a bit jaded because I don’t think our congressional representatives are moved by our voices like they were many years ago. By the way, not being out there is nothing to be ashamed of.
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I think Otto wanted live a near a normal life in the camps so he can endure the restrictions imposed on all the inmates and yes his age could have been a key factor. On the other hand Kurt being so much younger felt there were other ways to cope and perhaps rebel without any repercussions but of course that was not possible.
I can see both sides, not wanting to assist the camp or the government and then wanting to be a productive, busy person. I would be the type of person to want to do something to be busy also I would want to protect my family so I would not want to cause a problem.
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I feel age definitely plays a role in deciding what position to play. As one ages you realize some situations cannot be changed so you have to make the best out of the worst. There is a time and place to be an activist and it’s not when your life is at the mercy of someone else.
I would do exactly as Otto had done. Stay busy, keep your head down, and keep your ears open.