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Holocaust : A World Fraught With Peril

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1. During the start of the Holocaust, Sighet Jews failed to believe that Nazi terrorism existed and would affect them. The Sighet Jews had been warned many times by Moishe the Beadle, a street beggar who Elie would see at the synagogue and converse with. Moishe taught Elie about Jewish Mysticism which Elie’s father did not believe he was ready to learn about. Wiesel’s father says “You are too young for that. The Maimonides tell us that one must be thirty before venturing into the world of Mysticism, a world fraught with peril. First you must study the basic subjects, those you are able to comprehend.” Though Elie’s father decided to also mention “There are no Kabbalists in Sighet.”(Wiesel 4) However, Moishe’s lessons to Elie would be taken away as he was classified as a foreign Jew and was forced by the Hungary Police as well as many others to be taken to the Galician Forest.
In the large Galician forest they dug large trenches, and as soon as they were done digging the trenches, they were shot in the head and thrown in the trenches. He had also seen babies thrown in the air, used as shooting targets and Jewish men and woman getting thrown in the back of trucks. Yet Moishe had tried his best to warn the Sighet Jews about the terrors they would soon face. As Moishe tells Elie “You don’t understand… You cannot understand. I was saved miraculously. I succeeded in coming back. Where did I get my strength? I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you mu death so that you

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