Defiance

I thought that this was one of the best movies I have seen in a while.  And while I thought the acting and story was worth discussing I am going to spend far greater time on part II of the question.  The acting was good without a doubt and I enjoyed the story very much as well.  I have already re watched the movie twice since we saw it in class.
(I will discuss content applications to today at the end).

I think that both Tuvia and Zus's statements are compatible and it is this blend that I support.  While it is imperative not to become like your enemy you must also being willing to sometimes take military action against injustice.  I do not support Tuvia's killing the officer's sons but I think his actions in killing the officer himself were justified.  In the Warsaw ghetto there was a group of rebels who took action against the Nazis and held out for a long period of time, (many of them actually survived). 
With any type of military action I think it is crucial to maintain a moral code.  While the Beilskis may have committed a few morally questionable actions I believe that their transgressions are minute in comparison to those of not only the Third Reich but also of other armies during the second world war.  No army including the United States was innocent of having some member commit crimes.  *The Soviet army in particular was ruthless and the Nazis extended their cruelty to many Russian POW's as well with the chance of survival for Russian prisoners as low as 20%. 

I strongly believe that while there may have been some crimes committed by the Beilski group they definitely did not become like the Nazis.

I agree with President Obama's idea though not necessarily with Trakinski's.  Trakinski's quote discusses how people only recognizes when somebody else commits a greater crime and I believe on multiple occasions people condemn somebody's activities that are more minor infractions than many of their own crimes.

I definitely do not believe that non-violent resistance could have stopped the holocaust.  I admire Gandhi and his non-violent philosophy but I strongly disagree with it.  I believe that as soon as you are threatened with violence you have the right to respond with violence.  While Gandhi was admirable if every one who was not a Nazi had been like Gandhi, there would be only Nazis alive at the end of the day.  

* If you are interested the statistics come from a book by Antony Beevor called Stalingrad.  It is a very interesting book on not just the military importance of Stalingrad but also the ethical and political ideas of war on the Russian front.