Holocaust Memorial Day: Keep The Memory Alive

The theme for this year's Holocaust Memorial Day is 'Keep the Memory Alive' which was brought along by the fact that today marks seventy years since the liberation of Auschwitz. The theme is an extremely important one. It's about making sure that people don't forget what happened all those years ago, that we remember the impact it had on the world, make sure that people understand and learn about it and then carry this memory on for future generations. 
This is an extremely sensitive topic for a lot of people and isn't something that should be taken lightly.There are some things that are explained a little more graphically in this post. So, if you feel uncomfortable now is the time to stop reading. 
Given the fact that it's been 70 year since the liberation of Auschwitz, I thought I'd just post a small history about it. 

Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp was a concentration and extermination camp. It opened in 1940 and was located in Southern Poland. Auschwitz is now open for people to visit the camp and take tours around it. 
Auschwitz was the largest and could be noted at the most notorious of all Nazi death camps. Whilst the camp was being constructed all nearby factories were appropriated and the people were evacuated whilst their homes were bulldozed by the Nazis. 
At first, Auschwitz was open as a detention centre for political prisoners. By mid-1942 the majority of the people who were being sent to concentration camps were Jewish. When they arrived in the camp they would be examined by a Nazi doctor. Anyone who was unfit for work, including children, the elderly and pregnant women would be ordered immediately to take a shower. They would be marched into gas chambers which were disguised as bath houses. Due to the fact that these people were never registered as actual Auschwitz inmates, it's impossible to be able to tell how many people died in Auschwitz. For those who were deemed as fit enough to work they would die from overworking, disease, or insufficient nutrition,
Some of the prisoners in Aushwitz were subjected to horrendous and barbaric medical experiments that were led by Josef Mengele, For example, in order to study eye colour he would inject a serum into dozens of children's eyes which would cause them extreme pain. He had also injected cholorform into the hearts of twins to determine if they would both die at the same time and in the same manner. 
As 1944 came to a close though and the defeat of the Nazis by the Allied Forces seemed to be on the horizon, the Auschwitz commandants began to destroy evidence of the horrendous treatment that had taken place in the camp. Buildings ended up being blown up, torn down, or set on fire and the records were destroyed. 
However, in 1945 when the Soviet Army had entered Krakow, and the Nazis ordered that Auschwitz should be abandoned. In what came to be known as the 'Auschwitz death marches', at the end of the month, there was an estimated  60,000 prisoners that were deported from the camp and marched along with Nazi guards, for about 30 miles. Countless prisoners died whilst being marched from the camp and those who survived were sent to concentration camps in Germany. 
On January 27th 1945, the Soviet Amy entered Auschwitz and they found approximately 7,600 sick or emaciated detainees that had been left behind. They also found mounds of corpses, hundreds and thousands of pieces of clothes, shoes and human hair that ha been shaved off of the heads of prisoners. It's estimated that around 1 million people had died in Auschwitz. 
This is why it is so important to keep this memory going. So many people lost their lived through the Holocaust and it's something that cannot be forgotten about If we forget about it, we stop learning from it. The Holocaust effected so many people. So many individual people who weren't able to carry on going after their dreams and carrying on with the lives that they wanted. 
I think it can be agreed that this isn't something that one person can do by themselves. It's something that we'll have to work together to do.

My 2015 Promises

Wanderlust: New York (#1)

New York City, aka the city that never sleeps. It's been a place that I've wanted to go for so long and I finally get the chance to this month. One week away with my sister in what looks like such a beautiful city. I cannot wait to get there! 
There are so many things that I'm looking forward to seeing when we're there, Broadway being one of them. I love musicals and I've gone to West End with my school but Broadway is a place that I always wanted to go. We've booked tickets to go and watch 'Les Mis' and I really can't wait to watch. 
Top of the Rock and the Empire State Building Observation Deck are two places that I have a feeling might take my breath away whilst also making my legs shake. It's going to be amazing to have an overlook of New York. 
One of the other places that I can't wait to go and see in the Natural History Museum there, especially since I love watch 'Night At the Museum'. I'm going to be like a child wanting to see everything there. 
There are so many other places that I want to go and see in New York and so many of them that we will be seeing but those are just a few of the ones that I'm really excited to see and I'll be doing a few posts of my trip there later on. 28th of December couldn't come any quicker for me right now!
*This post idea originally came from Pagex394

Top Ten: Books of 2014 (#2)

2014 is coming to an end and here are what my top ten books of 2014 ended up being! 

---

1) The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith This is the first ever Jennifer E. Smith book that I read and I'm hoping to read some more because I really loved the book and the plot line that went with it. From the cover art to the ending, I absolutely loved this book. 

---

2) Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider Even though I did have some problems with this book it was still one that I enjoyed. Ezra Faulkner is a character that I still love and it was great to read a book that I loved and had a male in the forefront.

---

3) Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead I am in love with this book so much, to the point that I think I may have to read this again next year. It was so lovely to read and get through. I was immediately sucked right into the world that I just didn't want to leave. 

---

4) Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead It might be cheating to put another Richelle Mead book in but this had to be my second favourite one in the series so I have no shame in putting this one down on this list. Yet another amazing book that I could not put down.

---

5) The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkein  This book made my year. It did take me a little while to get through it all but it was completely worth it! If I though 'The Hobbit' was good, this book just blew me away and I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the series. 

---

6) The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness  After hearing so much hype about this book I am so glad that my sister got me to read because I didn't regret it one bit. I've yet to read the rest of the series but I'm ready to dive into it as soon as I get the time. This book made me think so much and had me hooked and guessing what was going to happen. 

---

7) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck   Even though this is a part of my English Literature course, I love this book and I couldn't help but put it on here. I could read this book over and over (which I have) and not get tired of it. For a short book, it packed a lot in and taught a few lessons along the way. 

---

8) Day 21 by Kass Morgan  I loved 'The 100' but the sequel was even better. This is a book that I just want everyone to read. For me, it's dystopia at it's best  It left me wanting so much more by the end of the book. Kass Morgan has this book not letting my interest go. 

---

9) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Please, if you have not read this book, go and read it! You are missing on so much! I had no idea what to expect with this book and even though it feels like a slow start, you understand why everything was put in the book. This book is still haunting me, months after reading it. 

---

10) The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani  This was such a nice book to read, even though the target audience might be a little younger than me. I love fairy tales and this was the perfect mixture of them. It wasn't at all complicated and the plot was so lovely to follow. I kept going on about this book for days afterwards.

---

So, those were my top ten book that I read in 2014. Were any of these yours? And if not what books made your 2014? 

Top Ten: Reasons I Love Christmas (#1)

Movie Review: Mockingjay - Part One

Title: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part One
Based On: Suzanne Collins' - Mockingjay
Running Time: 123 minutes
Director: Francis Lawrence 
Writers: Peter Craig & Danny Strong
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson & Liam Hemsworth 

'With the Games no destroyed and in pieces, Katniss Everdeen, along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, now end up in the so though "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay" and the symbol of rebellion for the people.' 

I pretty excited to watch this film and yet at the same time I was slightly sceptical about watching it since I knew that there was going to be a split in the middle and I didn't know how action packed this film was actually going to be. The day of gong I saw a few reviews of people saying that they loved it more than 'Catching Fire' and it made me more excited to watch it.

This movie had me drawn in from the very start. The scenery of the movie was fantastic. It was exactly what I had pictured in my head when I was reading the book an so much better. You could tell that there was a lot of effort that was put into it all and it made everything seem very realistic considering what the scenes were trying to show. 

Josh Hutcherson's acting deserved a standing ovation. I know a lot of people are speaking about Jennifer Lawrence's acting but Hutcherson's acting was absolutely amazing. Filming the scenes would have been emotionally draining but he did a fantastic job to the point my chest was hurting from watching the movie. Julianne Moore did a great job as President Coin. Although I did have reservation about her when the casting was first released she was the perfect Coin.

I won't lie, the split did annoy me a lot but that didn't affect how much I loved the movie. With the return of some of my favourite characters in the movie. It was great how the writers managed to balance the movie and add some comedy to what otherwise would have been a very serious plot line. Having the odd line slipped in here and there really did relax the atmosphere of the cinema. 

Although the movie did stray from the book in a few parts it still stuck to it quite a bit which I was extremely happy about. It's not very often I want to watch a movie again after watching it in the cinema already but I would definitely go back to watch 'Mockingjay'. 

I cannot hesitate to give this film this rating. 

Rating: ★★★★★

A Letter To The Future Year 11 Saira

Dear  Future Saira, 
If you're reading this then I want to give you a gold star for remembering that you've wrote this. You tend to forget a lot of things when you get in a tizz. All common sense just goes right out of the window.Since you've remembered though, you've probably remembered why I wrote this in the first place. The reason isn't really a good one though.
You're in year 11 and I'm pretty sure that I don't need to remind you about that and the chances are that you're panicking and stressed and throwing away everything you told yourself to remember at the beginning of the year. So here, let me jog your memory.
Do not stress. Seriously, I know what you're like. Just breath! I know that things are probably going to seem like one huge mess in front of you but just take it little bit by little bit. Don't look at the big picture, I know that you have to but you're going to do it to the point that you'll work yourself up. Just take one day at a time. 
You've got so many people around you that are there to help and support you. You know that you can go to your sister about anything. She'll help you out on the things that you're stuck on and she wouldn't hesitate. Don't panic about something that you don't know or don't understand. Just go and ask. She's not going to yell at you about it. She'll sit with you until you understand. 
Don't be afraid to talk to the family if you're worried about something. Just go over to them and tell them everything that's worrying you. They'll sit there and listen. You're not going to burden them, if anything, they want to know what's ticking in that head of yours. Sit, have a cwtch, get everything off of your chest and then breath. 
Sai, your grades aren't going to define the person you are and you know that. Sometimes you just get a little too caught up in everything. Aim for the grades that you want. Don't listen to what teachers and your friends say, you know what you want to walk out with on results day. 
Enjoy year 11, more than anything else. It's your last year there and it may seem stressful but don't bury yourself in work to the point you don't enjoy what's going on around you. Embrace your last year. You aren't going to get another one in secondary school.
Good luck and have fun.   Saira x