Promises of honor and prosperity, blind folded Germany and granted Hitler the power to implement his Final Solution. The Holocaust ravaged Europe, hopelessly Jews were slaughtered and fed to the flames. In attempt to cheat death, Jews could hide among loyal neighbors or confront the horrors in a Concentration Camp and pray for liberation, either path was a perilous journey. Elie Wiesel endured years of starvation and oppression in Concentration Camps, while Bronia Beker was constantly on the run and hiding from the Nazis. The turmoil of war spreads to the quiet hometowns, family crisis and separation, and the the living conditions, define Elie and Bronia. Elie and Bronia’s unique perspectives of the Holocaust differ in the actual …show more content…
Joseph and Bronia were liberated by the Russians in 1944, and were later married. Elie Wiesel, a pious boy, grew up in Sighet with his family until anti-Semitism imprisoned all Jews in ghettos skirted with barbed wire. The Jews of his town, were upbeat and grateful, despite the hard times, to be together as a religious community. Bronia’s Polish hometown of Kosowa was also separated into ghettos. When the Nazis planned to liquidate the ghettos, Bronia’s family hid away in a small 12x6 foot underground room with a pipe installed for air circulation, in contrast Elie’s family marched from their home with a few souvenirs to a destination of unknown fate. Each families’ decision resulted in two extremely different experiences, in which both struggle to survive through starvation, persecution, mental and physical abuse. The Holocaust is infamous for tearing families apart. Elie and Bronia both suffered the same fate. Elie’s family was shipped to a concentration camp by the Nazis during the liquidation of Sighet, then the Jews were divided by gender. The women of Elie’s family were most likely murdered in a crematorium and Elie’s father died shortly before the Jews were liberated. In comparison to Elie, Bronia was separated from her family, when Nazis blocked the airway to their family’s underground hiding spot and Bronia was the lone survivor. She then
During World War II, the Jewish race was one of the most persecuted of all the minorities harassed by Hitler and the Third Reich, and a day to day basis, Jews across Europe lived in constant fear, wondering if today would be their last. Especially in cities close to the expanding Nazi empire, there was no telling when their last breath would come. In the memoir, the closely knitted town of Sighet is controlled by the Germans, leaving anyone of Jewish descent to obey their commands in total fear of their personal safety. Elie Wiesel describes this genuine fear when he wakes up a close friend of his father, “‘Get up sir, get up!...You're going to be expelled from here tomorrow with your whole family, and all the rest of the Jews…’ Still half asleep he stared at me with terror-stricken eyes.”
south Poland, was one of the camps that Elie imprisoned in. Even with all the death around him, Elie still managed to survive. Years later after his liberation, Eliezer would eventually write a book about his experiences in the camps. The book, titled Night, shows the real account of Elie while he stayed in concentration camps during World War Two. Eliezer told of the horrific acts that the prisoners of Auschwitz suffered, including how he managed to survive. I will be arguing that Elie’s father helped increase his chances of survival more than he decreased them. I will mainly focus on the fact that Elie’s reason for living was to stay with his father, also time where Elie’s father kept him away from danger, and finally giving him advice to survive.
The Wiesel family had been deported from Sighet and taken to the Auschwitz-Birkeanu camp, where all deportees were put into two different lines, males and females. This is where Elie and his father were separated from the rest of their family. It is after they realized that they had survived the first selection that Elie, looking back, says: "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never" (P34). In this quote, the author applies visual, auditive and olfactory imagery to portray the theme of the horrors of war. Here, Elie reflects upon his experiences and how these have permanently marked him, making him feel haunted by such memories. On the other hand, the reader feels heartbroken and hopeless, seeing as Wiesel will have to shape his life around the impact that the camps had on
Elie Wiesel was a Jewish American born in Romania. His principles were influenced by being raised in a heavily religious and liberal family. In the 1940s, his own country forced his family to flee to the ghettos, and not long after, Wiesel, “a young Jewish boy from a small town,” was captured by Nazis, waking up to the perilous realization of “eternal infamy”(Wiesel). In April 1945, after enduring through starvation and punishment, he was finally liberated.
The holocaust is one of the world's most tragic events, approximately 6 million Jews died and the concentration camp Auschwitz is the world's largest human cemetery, yet it has no graves. In Elie Wiesel's autobiographical memoir Night, he writes about his dehumanizing journey in the concentration camp, Auschwitz. Firstly, Elie experiences the loss of love and belonging when he is separated from his mother, sisters, and eventually his father. Also, the lack of respect that the Nazis showed the prisoners which lead to the men, including Elie to feel a sense of worthlessness in the camp. Finally, the lack of basic necessities in the camp leads to the men physically experiencing dehumanization. As a result, all these factors contribute to the
The greatest change to Elie Wiesel’s identity was his loss of faith in God. Before he and his family were moved to the camps, Wiesel was a religious little boy who cried after praying at night (2). When the Hungarian police come to force the Jews to move to the ghettos, they pulled Elie from his prayers (13). Even on his way to Auschwitz, stuffed inside the cattle car with other terrified Jews, Wiesel gave thanks to God when told he would be assigned to labor camps (24). After a few days in Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel heard about the crematory and the fact that the Nazis were killing the sick, weak, and young. In his first night in the camp, Wiesel experienced his first crisis of faith: Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. …Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust (32).
At the age of 15, Elie Wiesel and his family were sent to Auschwitz as a part of the Holocaust. He was sent to many labor camps with his father where they were forced to work under inhumane conditions. However, his mother and younger sister were killed upon entering the camps. Wiesel recalled, “I didn’t know that this was the moment in the time and the place where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever.” (Wiesel, 29) After this, Wiesel and his father witnessed many atrocities. One of the first horrible sights Elie shared in his story was where he saw babies being
Everyone experiences emotional and physiological obstacles in their life. However, these obstacles are incomparable to the magnitude of the obstacles the prisoners of the Holocaust faced every day. In his memoir, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, illustrates the horrors of the concentration camps and their mental tool. Over the course of Night, Wiesel demonstrates, that exposure to an uncaring, hostile world leads to destruction of faith and identity.
Many themes exist in Night, Elie Wiesel’s nightmarish story of his Holocaust experience. From normal life in a small town to physical abuse in concentration camps, Night chronicles the journey of Wiesel’s teenage years. Neither Wiesel nor any of the Jews in Sighet could have imagined the horrors that would befall them as their lived changed under the Nazi regime. The Jews all lived peaceful, civilized lives before German occupation. Eliezer Wiesel was concerned with mysticism and his father was “more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin” (4). This would change in the coming weeks, as Jews are segregated, sent to camps, and both physically and emotionally abused. These changes and abuse would dehumanize
Forty-two years after entering the concentration camp for the first time, Elie Wiesel remarked, “Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope” (Nobel Lecture 1). This means a lot from someone who endured almost two years of the terror in the WWII concentration camps. During these two years, Elie endured the sadness of leaving his former life and faith behind, the pain of living off of scraps of bread, and the trepidation of the “selections”, where he almost lost his father. He watched the hanging of innocent people, was beat by Kapos and guards time after time, and marched in a death march right after having a foot surgery. Through all of this, he survived because he remained hopeful. Hope was all the Jewish people
Wiesel was all Elie had. They realized that they're all they have once they arrived at the camp. Birkenau was the first concentration camp they arrived to. From there the women and the men were separated. Elie had no clue it would the last time seeing his mother and his youngest sister Tzipora. “ I didn't know that this was the moment in time and the place where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora” (29). Elie held on tightly to his father, now knowing that he wasn't going to see his mother and Tzipora.
The Holocaust was a very terrible time in history over six million Jews perished in concentration camps. Even though in every tragedy there are survivors. Elie Wiesel was a little boy when all of this happened. He experienced all of the terrible things that happened during this time frame. While suffering in the terrible condition of the camp Elie and his father’s relationship goes through a drastic change.
At the young age of 15, Elie was forcibly moved into a ghetto and soon after taken to a concentration camp. Human minds do not fully develop until a person reaches about 25 years of age. (Sandra Aamodt, Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years, National Public Radio) Comprehending the Holocaust is impossible for anyone, which makes it that much more unimaginable and unbelievable to a child. It is quite simple for one to lose sight of himself when faced with a scene of pure death. It is fair to say that most people will do anything in return to live a while longer with loved ones. Therefore, morals are thrown out the window and traded
In 1940 , Hungary annexed sighet and the wiesel’s were among the jewish families and forced to live in the ghettos.May 1944,Nazi Germany with the Hungary’s agreement, forced jews living in Sighet to be deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. At the age of Fifteen Wiesel’s family were sent to Auschwitz as part of the holocaust, which took the lives of more than 6 million jews. Wiesel’s family was affected during the holocaust, all jews were forced to have their heads shaved and a number tattooed on their heads after all the men left the barber they were all standing around naked finding acquaintances and old friends, they are joyful at finding each other still alive. Elie Wiesel’s Night highlights the overarching issues of discrimination toward the Jews as they are forced to abandon their lives and face a death that consumer their existence, relationships and faith.
While Elie Wiesel, a Jewish boy subjugated to the violence of the Holocaust in Night, embarks on his atrocious journey in struggling to survive the brutality perpetrated on him, he loses his innocence in the traumatic circumstances. Wiesel’s main aspiration of writing about his development from childhood to adulthood is to showcase how cruelty within society can darken innocents’ souls. As Elie grows throughout the story, he starts to understand that he has changed from a pure, little child to a young man filled with distress and thoughts of danger. He reflects over what kind of individual he has evolved into because of the all the killings and torture he has witnessed: “I too had become a different