Night By Frankl Summary

'He who has a why to live for can bear any how.' The words of Nietzsche begin to explain Frankl's tone throughout his book. Dr. Frankl uses his experiences in different Nazi concentration camps to explain his discovery of logotherapy. This discovery takes us back to World War II and the extreme suffering that took place in the Nazi concentration camps and outlines a detailed analysis of the prisoners psyche. An experience we gain from the first-hand memoirs of Dr. Frankl.

The Jews had been starved while being detained in forced labor camp. Those who weren’t fit to work were killed and cremated. The most eye-opening description of the Jewish peoples’ state in the concentration camp came at the very end of the book. After being freed, Wiesel looked in a mirror for the first since his arrival at the camp. Wiesel described his reflection as a “corpse” and stated “the look in his eyes… has never left me.” (Wiesel 115). Not only had the Nazis carried out a brutal campaign on the Jews’ physical being, but they had also infiltrated deep into their psyche. Upon arrival at camps, all Jews’ were forced to hand over all of their clothes and wearing matching uniforms. After that, the prisoners’ were sent to the barber. Wiesel described the process, stating, “[The barbers’] clippers tore out our hair, shaved every hair on our bodies.” (Wiesel 35). After this process, every Jew was tattooed with a number. This process lead to the ego-death of every prisoner. They were no longer people: they were numbers. Nothing differentiated one Jew from another, besides the numbers tattooed on them. This horrendous act could only be classified as psychological torture, carried out by monsters who had lost control of their own

The concentration camps from World War II are part of a painful and tragic incident that we have learned about in school for many years. And while we are taught the facts, we may not fully understand the emotional impact it had upon the humans involved. Upon reading Night by Elie Wiesel, readers are given vivid descriptions of the gruesome and tragic behaviors that the Jews were forced to endure inside he treacherous concentration camps. Among all of the cruelties that the Jews were exposed to, a very significant form of the callous behaviors was the demoralization of the prisoners. Each inmate was given a tattoo of a number, and that tattoo became their new identity within the camp. Every prisoner was presented with tattered uniforms that became

Ready Player One hits some of the same situations as in the holocaust or for the book that we read “Night” like taking people spread out over a good area and combining them into a small dense area. They both also touch on the topic of how when someone is killed or something is blown up now one raises an eyebrow or if they do no one does anything about it.

Night begins with the narrator, Elie, talking about Moishe the Beadle, who is described as the “jack-of-all-trades” in a shtibl (Weisel, 21). He then continues by talking about his family. He goes back to talk about his deep conversations with Moishe and their evenings spent together. One day, the foreign Jews of Sighet, where he lives, were expelled. This included Moishe. They were taken away in cattle cars by the Hungarian police. Months past and one day, Elie saw Moishe sitting on a bench near the synagogue. He tells Elie about what happened to him; how he and the other Jews were transported and forced to dig their own graves in the forest. Luckily, Moishe had managed to escape. He had come back to warn the Jews in Sighet of what to come.

Names are taken from the Jews and replaced with numbers when they enter the camp. This act is an attempt to steal the Jews’ identities; however, they fight against this act of dehumanization. The Nazi’s hoped to kill them mentally by doing this. My arm burns. I look up into the blue eyes of a Nazi guard as he burns the number into my skin. I smell burning flesh and want to barf. All around me irons are being heated up. “You

Frankl endured much suffering during his time in the concentration camp. All of his possessions were taken away, including his manuscript in which he recorded all of his life's work. He went through rough manual labor, marching through freezing temperatures, and little or no

After selection, Elie is stripped of his clothes and beaten. He tries to “protect himself from the blows”(41) but is unsuccessful. A young Polish man comforts Elie by telling him to not “lose hope” (41). These are the “first human words” Elie has heard upon his arrival (41). German officers maim and demolish any desire to survive that may thrive in prisoners. It is not common to witness compassion in the hands of the SS officers. Threats consumed the lives of innocent men, women and children. For a young man Wiesel had never met to reassure him (Elie) shows that few prisoners maintained their

As the veteran prisoners tattoo the numbers on the Wiesel’s hand, he states that “I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name.”(Wiesel, 42). By removing their names, the Nazis again dehumanize the prisoners to the level of animals, as animals do not have names or identities like humans do. During the second selection, Wiesel states that the SS doctors would examine the weak and “write down their numbers - good for the crematorium” (Wiesel, 69). The way the Nazis write the numbers that sentence people to death without any consideration displays how they do not attach writing a person’s number for death to actually killing a person. Using a person’s number instead of their name gives them the impression that they are not killing actual human beings. Through replacing the names of Jewish prisoners with numbers, the Nazi’s remove their connection to their human identity, significantly dehumanizing

The officers scream, “Faster you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs…”(Wiesel 85). As the prisoners run themselves sick, the officers are shouting invective statements to them. The Jews are treated as if they are animals, but they do not care, they cannot do anything about it. They can not escape the camp. They are trapped like animals inside the brutal entrapments. With the SS officers dehumanizing the Jews by treating them like property, the Jews begin to lose hope to ever get out. Once they become a prisoner, mentally, they are a prisoner for

Within a few nights of Wiesel being in the concentration camp his humanity was lost. The Commando in charge of Wiesel and his father’s unit was unable to view them as fellow human beings. The Commando felt justified in beating them. The “gypsy” degraded Wiesel's father and turned him into the animal he was seen as by the prison guards, beat him until he crawled on all fours.

They are at Birkenau and have to be separated by men and women. It is, however, the last time he would see his mother and sister, Tzipora. Eliezer is now with his father and the inmates are upset, asking why they are here and that they should have hanged themselves before coming because of the fate that awaits them. They also give advice, though, saying that Eliezer should say he is eighteen instead of fifteen and that his dad should be forty instead of fifty. Dr.Mengele then appears, asking for their ages and professions, and Eliezer follows the advice and says he is a student. During this process he sees a truck with children, children that are meant to be thrown in the crematorium. He is shocked and disgusted and would rather run into

In the Auschwitz documentary Kitty Hart-Moxon gave an explanation of what had occurred during the Holocaust; selection and explains how to survive. Kitty Hart-Moxon stated, “When you arrived on the train, women and children and the elderly were sent directly to their death in the gas chambers. You could hear people suffocating for about twenty minutes, and then it was over” (Documentary: A Day In Auschwitz). If you weren't fit and didn't pass the selection test you were considered weak, and got put to your death. In the Auschwitz documentary Kitty Hart Moxon explains if you passed the selection “You were stripped down of your clothes and valuables, your hair was shaved off….and you would be tattooed with a number.” (Documentary: A Day In Auschwitz). Now, comparing the Auschwitz documentary to the excerpt Night, Elie Wiesel focused on one subject: selection. “ We knew what it meant. An SS would examine us.. to see if we were fit enough.” (Wiesel 308). The victims and prisoners went through a selection process. Men were separated from women along with children. A Nazi, usually an SS physician, looked quickly at each person to decide if he or she was strong and healthy enough for forced labor. The SS officer then selected the weak; victims did not know that individuals were being selected to live or die. Carefully examining both of the mediums subjects, the Auschwitz documentary had a wide

While being held prisoner in the death camps, Frankl began to observe his fellow inmates. He payed close attention to

In a Man’s Search for Meaning narrative written by, Viktor, Frankl is a Must-Read book! He honestly describes and explain his various experiences in the concentration camp, not only is he being descriptive but he also gives an official man experience from what he has been apart of and what was seen. This narrative allows you to better understand what was being done to these individuals from a psychological standpoint, meaning our mental. Imagine yourself, being tormented, tortured, verbally and physically abused, but still must hold yourself upright just to avoid the abuse; there’s no way around it. These individuals, were abused day and night; even if they were a half of inch out of place. Frankl, begins with a question that states, “But does a man who makes his observations while he himself is a prisoner possess the necessary detachment? Such detachment is granted to the outsider, but he is too far removed to make any statements of real value.” This stood out to me, being that I am of a female gender; I could reverse the roles to better understand the question he posed. It is difficult to observe oneself when you are a prisoner, not just physically but mentally. The mental is what enables us as humans to process information but also perform daily tasks.