09/29/07
In Mimi Schwartz's "My Father Always Said" is an essay of her life growing up in New York with a father who was from Rindheim and fled from Hitler's Germany to save himself and his family. Her father always made the comment "In Rindheim, you never did such things!" for things he didn't approve of. She doesn't understand the way that her father thinks because they are living in America and he's still living in the past. It's not until she visits Rinheim that she finally gets an idea of how her father feels.
In the first section of the essay Schwartz is describing her life growing up in New York with her father. She was growing up as any other teenager at her age. She would want to hang out with her friends, wear make-up, and live a normal life. Her father, however, would disapprove of such things. The next section connects to this one because it will lead to her better understanding what her father is coming from.
In the second section Schwartz takes a trip to Rindheim with her father and mother. When they arrive to the house her father used to live in she sees the condition he had to live in where they were welcomed by the current owner. He lived in a small house and the yard was covered in dung where the cows and chickens roamed. Later on in this section she is told of how her father had to go to the synagogue in the town every Friday and of the Germans who went there now try to keep it as similar as possible but the people living in the town weren't happy about it. She couldn't imagine having to the synagogue every Friday and not being with her friends but starting to understand why he found it important to go.
The third section is connected to the last because in this section she is told of how the Germans burnt down the synagogues in the towns. She was told of how they could do nothing to save them because they could've been killed if they attempted. She was now getting a better understanding of why her father didn't trust people outside the families he knew. Here she is beginning to understand why he wanted her to be friends with certain people and not others.
In the fourth section they are starting to drive to the cemetery to visit their family members' graves. Her father told her of how the Jews and the Catholics were separated in school until they reached high school where they were able to take classes together. She couldn't really understand why but it was just something that was done back then. Her mother also mentioned how they had to park two kilometers away from town because no Jew would dare to be seen driving there on Shabbat. In this section she had an even better understanding of the difficulties her parents had to go through while living there.
In the fifth section they finally get to the graveyard where she was showed her family members' graves and other graves as well. She was told of who they were and or of how they died also. Her father mentions a person he knew that decided to stay thinking she would be fine and was later sent to one of the concentration camps. She saw how upset her father got when she was mentioned. She was also showed the monument to honor the victims of the persecution of the Jews in 1933 to 1945. Schwartz had then got a better understanding of the dangers her family had avoided by fleeing to America and the importance he still held for his family.
In the final section Schwartz finally understands why her father would always say "In Rindheim, we didn't do such things!" but by the time they returned home he stopped saying it. His new favorite saying was "Smile, smile! You are a lucky girl to be here!" because by then she did realize how lucky she was and he was able to move on.
In the first section of the essay Schwartz is describing her life growing up in New York with her father. She was growing up as any other teenager at her age. She would want to hang out with her friends, wear make-up, and live a normal life. Her father, however, would disapprove of such things. The next section connects to this one because it will lead to her better understanding what her father is coming from.
In the second section Schwartz takes a trip to Rindheim with her father and mother. When they arrive to the house her father used to live in she sees the condition he had to live in where they were welcomed by the current owner. He lived in a small house and the yard was covered in dung where the cows and chickens roamed. Later on in this section she is told of how her father had to go to the synagogue in the town every Friday and of the Germans who went there now try to keep it as similar as possible but the people living in the town weren't happy about it. She couldn't imagine having to the synagogue every Friday and not being with her friends but starting to understand why he found it important to go.
The third section is connected to the last because in this section she is told of how the Germans burnt down the synagogues in the towns. She was told of how they could do nothing to save them because they could've been killed if they attempted. She was now getting a better understanding of why her father didn't trust people outside the families he knew. Here she is beginning to understand why he wanted her to be friends with certain people and not others.
In the fourth section they are starting to drive to the cemetery to visit their family members' graves. Her father told her of how the Jews and the Catholics were separated in school until they reached high school where they were able to take classes together. She couldn't really understand why but it was just something that was done back then. Her mother also mentioned how they had to park two kilometers away from town because no Jew would dare to be seen driving there on Shabbat. In this section she had an even better understanding of the difficulties her parents had to go through while living there.
In the fifth section they finally get to the graveyard where she was showed her family members' graves and other graves as well. She was told of who they were and or of how they died also. Her father mentions a person he knew that decided to stay thinking she would be fine and was later sent to one of the concentration camps. She saw how upset her father got when she was mentioned. She was also showed the monument to honor the victims of the persecution of the Jews in 1933 to 1945. Schwartz had then got a better understanding of the dangers her family had avoided by fleeing to America and the importance he still held for his family.
In the final section Schwartz finally understands why her father would always say "In Rindheim, we didn't do such things!" but by the time they returned home he stopped saying it. His new favorite saying was "Smile, smile! You are a lucky girl to be here!" because by then she did realize how lucky she was and he was able to move on.
posted by Lauren at
3:07:00 PM
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