Valerie Samano
Mrs. Bosch
December 31, 2008
English 10 Honors
In the novel Night, it is during the spring of 1944 when the Fascist party had come into power and a new administration had come into action. With the government’s permission, German troops had entered the Hungarian territory and fear had arouse among the Jews. Within a few days the German soldiers had, taken control of the little town of Sighet were Elie, the protagonist, and his family had lived. As the Nazis era progressed, the process of dehumanization became popular toward the Jewish community. Little by little by the Jews were deprived of their rights and were slowly reduced to little more then things. Days later Jews were told that, they no longer had the right to keep any objects of value. Due to the fact that the Nazis seen the fellow Jews as a nuisance they were deprived of their human qualities, rights, and lives.
Although most of the Jews doubted that Hitler would exterminate them because their were many millions of Jews that were scattered throughout many countries they seen this as unlikely especially since it was during the middle of the twentieth century. However, the Jews were in for a rude awakening when reality struck that Hitler had taken control and Jews began to be deported. Due to the hate, the German soldiers or Gestapo inflicted on the Jews life for them was hell. It was safe to say that their faith or hope that they had in God had vanished or was vanishing after seeing all the injustices that had taken place. “Where is God? Where is He?”(Wiesel pg 6). For a short period of time, one of the human qualities that the fellow Jews had was fear the fear of dying. “Not cry?
Were on the threshold of death… soon we shall have crossed over… don’t you understand? How could I not cry?” ( pg 33). None of them knew what was going to come next, especially after seeing the concentration camp of Auschwitz. It was obvious to say that as months passed their hope of survival had diminished and was replaced with the hopes of dying in order to stop all suffering. “Indifference deadened the spirit. Here or elsewhere-what difference did it make? To die today or tomorrow, or later” ( pg 93).
Rights were a term that was of insignificance to the Germans when it came to the way Jews were being treated or the emotional state they were in. For instance when the Jews journey began they were warned, “There are eighty of you in this wagon if anyone is missing you’ll all be shot, like dogs” ( pg 22 ). Jews were treated like dogs if not worse. When they were deported, they were in trains and locked up as if they were animals of some sort. No one was sure what to expect their whole reassurance of being okay changed when they reached camp Auschwitz. The first thing that one seen when they entered were large chimneys with large flames coming out. Those who were unfortunate were sent into the oven to be burned alive. “Poor devils, you’re going to the crematory”( pg 30 ). There where two ditches one for children and another for adults. Although the Jews that suffered the most sorrow were those who had families, they were to be separated. “Men
to the left! Woman to the right” ( pg 27 ). For most, this was the last time they would ever see their fellow loved ones. These forms of torture that the Germans had come up not only took away the Jew’s rights but they were inhumane as well. “ Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets” ( pg 4 ).
Words such as difficult, unbearable, agonizing, or even merciless are a small portion of the innumerable amount of words there is to describe the living conditions for the Jews in the concentration camps. In the camp life was harsh although at the beginning their were those fellow Jews that looked after one another, primarily those who were related to each other. “Have faith in life. Drive out despair, and you will keep death away from yourselves… let their be comradeship among you. We are all brothers, and we are all suffering the same fate… Help one another. It is the only way to survive”( pg 38-39). However as life became complicated Jews were over come by hunger and fear everyone looked out for themselves and did what ever they could in order to survive. As life became more intricate their were struggles amongst the prisoners who on occasions were beaten amongst themselves whether it was for a gold crown, shoes, or anything that had some
sort of value. “If you don’t give me the crown you’ll pay for it even more”( pg 52). The sight of death had been something normal to the prisoners’ eyes especially after going from camp Auschwitz were thousands died daily and Birkenau were they cremated people in ovens. All that was important to most now was keeping up their strength in order to survive and by doing this, they had to eat as much as they could and what ever they could. “I now took little interest in anything except my daily plate of soup and my crust of stale bread. Bread, soup- these were my whole life. I was a body. Perhaps less then that even: a starved stomach”( pg 50 Night). When it was time to transfer to a new camp, which was usually by train or on foot, it was like survival of the fittest. All prisoners did what they could in order to maintain themselves alive even if it meant beating each other with what little strength they had left for a piece of bread. “ One day
when we had stopped, a workman took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought each other to the death for a few crumbs” ( pg 95).
Through out the novel it is revealed how the Germans slowly dehumanized the Jews, deprived them of their rights, and destroyed their lives. As a result, of all the suppression their were many millions of Jews that died in the concentration camps nevertheless their were survivors like Elizer Wiesel. This specific survivor Wiesel gave his point of view of the horrors he, his father, and fellow Jews faced while living in the concentration camps. The experiences he faced, and the acts of inhumanity he seen are forever remembered in the novel Night.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. United States and Canada:
Bantam Books, 1982
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