The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to say that they were the cause of World War I when really the person who started it was Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian terrorist. It also had other things that showed the Allies prejudices against Germany and so World War II started. Germany wouldn’t give up the land that they were supposed to give up in the Treaty of Versailles and instead tried to gain more land by attacking their surrounding countries like Poland, Austria, and France.

My knowledge on the war has helped me to understand things better than I would have been able to before. For example, I went to the museum my uncle is developing on different wars we have fought. I wouldn’t have understood a lot of the exhibits there prior to studying WWII. I also went to see the Daniel’s Story exhibit at Union Station and it had a lot more meaning to me since I knew about how they treated the Jews during the war. It helped to expand my knowledge on the Holocaust and realize how scary being sent to a ghetto and concentration camp would be.

My views have changed because I now know what it would be like to be a part of the war.  I've had the priviledge of interviewing veterans of the war and hearing about individual experiences. I could have never even imagined what being in the war would be like.

I feel like now I have a higher respect for how good my  life is today and how fortunate I am. I appreciate living with my family in a safe country with food to eat and fresh water to drink, a nice house, clothes, friends, toys, and even two cars. Families back then, even in America, would have been lucky to have a vehicle of any kind and had limited food ration stamps. Most families had young sons who had been sent off to the war and had not a clue where he was or how he was doing or even if he was still alive or not. My study on World War II has led to this respect of life. I don’t know how I would have gained this respect otherwise.