Literary Themes and Symbols of the Holocaust

Over 5 million people died between 1933 and 1945. Additionally, around half of these deaths happened in a concentration camp. This point in time is commonly referred to as the Holocaust. In Elie Wiesel’s book "Night” that documents Elie Wiesel’s struggles in a ghetto and then being transported throughout Germany to these awful places that are made for death. However, in the novel “Night,” Elie Wiesel uses dialog, ellipses, and symbolism to show the bond he has with his father. (73)

     Throughout history the Jewish people have been scapegoats; whenever something was not going right they were the ones to blame. From Biblical times through to the Shakespearean Era, all the way to the Middle East Crisis and the creation of Israel, the Jews have been persecuted and blamed for the problems of the world. The most horrifying account of Jewish persecution is the holocaust, which took place in Europe from 1933 to 1945 when Adolf Hitler tried to eliminate all the people that he thought were inferior to the Germans, namely the Jews, because he wanted a pure Aryan State.

The Holocaust was a brutal event in World War Two and millions of people were killed. Although this occurrence was brutal, beautiful things happened too. Beauty and brutality co-existed throughout the the Holocaust and changed people's lives. Markus Zusak used imagery to represent beauty and brutality co-existing in “The Book Thief” throughout the lives of Liesel, Hans, and Death.

The mid 20th century was a time of grief and genocide in Europe, which created a life of anger and despair for those who were affected. Family was so important during the holocaust as it was the only way that someone would be able to handle this time. Elise Wiesel, a survivor of the holocaust, created a work of art with his personal account called Night about his journey during the 1940’s. He uses a plethora of literary devices to convey a theme of strong family bond within his book. During the 1940’s, the Nazi Party in Germany created an era of anti-Semitism and genocide which involved the lives of Jews living in western Europe. During this time in Germany, over 6 million Jews died and only a few lived to tell

The terrors of the Holocaust are unimaginably destructive as described in the book Night by Elie Wiesel. The story of his experience about the Holocaust is one nightmare of a story to hear, about a trek from one’s hometown to an unknown camp of suffering is a journey of pain that none shall forget. Hope and optimism vanished while denial and disbelief changed focus during Wiesel’s journey through Europe. A passionate relationship gradually formed between the father and the son as the story continued. The book Night genuinely demonstrates how the Holocaust can alter one's spirits and relations.

Dzungar, Holodomor, Rwandan, Cambodians, Armenians, Circassian, Ottoman Greek, and the Jewish. All too many genocides. When will it stop? When will we learn? When will we stop forgetting about the past and when will the history books end the patterns of war and death? When? The survivors share their stories, but do we listen? Elie Wiesel was a fifteen year old boy with the a life ahead of him, when his religion, following Judaism, made him a target in Adolf Hitler's extermination plans. He was only a boy. He had done nothing wrong, absolutely nothing, yet his life had been ended before it began. From Auschwitz to Birkenau to Buna to Gleiwitz and Gleiwitz to Buchenwald. Wiesel endured separation and starvation, to survive the brutality of the Jewish Holocaust that left millions of others dead. Individuals with lives, with hopes, with dreams, suffering with no end, and losing everything upon survival. Adults, children, elderly, everyone one of them innocent. As individuals living without these threats we cannot empathize for the horror stories we hear, since we have no personal connection, we can only sympathize for them. With no personal connection to the events, it is sure that we will forget Wiesel, but why do we forget? Because humans are imperfect beings? How do we stop erring and forget the mistakes that have preceded us? Humans struggle to understand that the mistakes of one individual do not define those similar to them. If human can attempt to

As the famous journalist Iris Chang once said, “As the Nobel Laureate warned years ago, to forget a holocaust is to kill twice.” After experiencing the tragedies that occurred during the Holocaust, Eliezer Wiesel narrated “Night”. Eliezer wrote “Night” in an attempt to prevent something similar to the Holocaust from happening again, by showing the audience what the consequences are that come from becoming a bystander. Elie illustrated numerous themes by narrating the state of turmoil he was in during the Holocaust. In Night, Eliezer provided insight into what he experienced in order to teach the unaware audience about three themes; identity, silence, and faith.

Another book that illustrates the calamity of the Holocaust is Memories of my life in a Polish Village, by T.K. Fluek. In her book, Toby Fluek, a small Jewish girl, describes how her family had to move to a Jewish Ghetto and go into hiding several times to save their lives when World War II began. By the end of the war, only she and her mother had survived. Toby became an artist and presents her story through the use of her own art in paintings and descriptions of them.

The holocaust was a tragic time which involved the killing of Jews to create a ‘pure race’ in Germany. Jacob Boas analyzes the stories of five young Jewish children through the book “We Are Witnesses,” who were forced through the hardships of war. Through the perspectives of David Rubinowicz, Yitzhak Rudashevski, Moshe Flinker, Éva Heyman, and Anne Frank, the struggles of the five children are clear as they try to hold on to their ideals while still fighting for their lives. “We Are Witnesses,” by Jacob Boas adopts repetition and diction through the eyes of David Rubinowicz, imagery using Yitzhak Rudashevski, repetition and imagery via Moshe Flinker, repetition with Éva Heyman, and repetition and syntax by Anne Frank to brandish how Jewish

The Terrible Things is an allegory to the holocaust by Eve Bunting. This allegory is comparable to First they came for the communists, and the excerpt from Elie Wiesel’s Night in the sense of that they all convey a message of how ignoring people who are trying to warn you, or just not doing anything to warn or help other people/creatures, will eventually get you all taken away in the holocaust. Throughout the story, not one animal speaks out, or tries to help another creature when they are being taken away. Little rabbit constantly asks why a certain creature was taken away. Big rabbit simply replies, “The Terrible Things don’t need a reason. Just be glad it wasn't us they wanted” (Bunting 1). Eventually, there are no creatures left in the

There are many tragic events that have happened in history and one of them is The Holocaust. The book Night written by Elie Wiesel is based on him, a Holocaust survivor, and his experience in the concentration camps. There is also an article titled “Wiesel Offers Students First-Hand Account of Holocaust” by Louis Sahagun that is about Elie Wiesel speaking to students on his involvement with The Holocaust. The film Life is Beautiful is based on The Holocaust as well. It tells the story of a family in the concentration camps. The book Night, the article “Wiesel Offers Students First-Hand Account of Holocaust”, and the film Life is Beautiful share a common message of how families were affected during The Holocaust.

The Holocaust was life changing for the Jewish people. Inside the book Night, Eliezer Wiesel is a Jewish boy whom’s emotion and spirituality changes after his imprisonment in the concentration camps. The Jewish people, including Eliezer, faced dehumanization many times during this period of time. Teenagers should learn about the Holocaust because it engages students to think critically and self-reflect, by doing so they can make essential connections between the history and the contemporary moral choices they confront with their own lives.

•The most famous book in the Holocaust was written by a 13 year old girl, and it has been read by 10 million people.

Anti-Semitism in Europe did not begin with Adolf Hitler. Though use of the term itself

When most people refer to literature that concentrates specifically on the Holocaust as the subjects, the first thought usually isn’t in the form of a graphic novel. Most people would believe a graphic novel is something only a child would read or someone to the same educational equivalent. Due to their engaging stories and appealing visuals though, graphic novels are idea for visual learners, inexperienced or unenthused readers, and just about anyone else who may not find traditional print books enticing. Graphic novels tend to show a relationship between the images and the text that makes for an experience in itself (1.). Sometimes even taking on a difficult subject, an example being the Holocaust can make for a different kind of experience. In Maus I & II, the author chose graphic novels as his medium. For that, “Maus shines due to its impressive ability to ‘speak the unspeakable’ by using the popular maxim, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ to perfection” (3).