The Holocaust In Elie Wiesel's Night

Amongst the many events that the world has captured in history books, the holocaust is one that is recognized by almost everyone. The Holocaust was a controlled, state financed torture and killing of roughly six million Jews by the Nazi government led by Adolf Hitler. While many Jews died in the concentration camps, there are some who made it out alive and told their story. Their witness accounts contribute information the world needs to understand what really took place in Germany and the concentration camps. Author, Elie Wiesel, voices his time in the Nazi concentration camps, in his autobiographical novel, Night. Throughout the story, Wiesel physically, mentally, and spiritually changes due to the horrific events of the holocaust.
Wiesel’s
He clutches onto his father’s hand and naively denies that the world could stand by silently and allow the Germans to slaughter the Jews. However, within moments of his arrival at the camp, he witnesses the horrific reality that murders his childhood and innocence. Wiesel sees babies and children being thrown into fire pits and soon after states, “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live” (Wiesel 43). At this point in time, the murders he witnesses disgust him. He is absolutely mortified. Throughout the novel, there are many other moments that Wiesel struggles with his moral views, and the longer he is in the camp, the more detached he becomes. For instance, after a man was shot down for falling behind in their forty-two mile run between camps, Wiesel states that, “I soon forgot him. I began to think of myself again” (92). Wiesel starts to become self-focused like most of the other prisoners. He lives in constant fear, and staying alive is the only thing he has the time or energy to worry about. Survival literally becomes his only goal. Unlike before, when he witnesses this murder, he keeps moving. Death was something that he was used to seeing. His self-preserving mentality is shown to a further extent when his father is killed. Oblivious to his surroundings, Wiesel’s father continuously calls out to him for water, but Wiesel ignores him. In the
As a teenager, his biggest plan for the future was to further his spirituality. When Moché asks Wiesel why he prays, Wiesel responds with, “Why did I pray? Strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” (Wiesel 14). He is so devout and in-tune with God that he relates praying to the simple task of breathing. His faith was practically limitless. However, by the end of the book, Wiesel’s faith in God is destroyed by the horrors he witnesses. This is supported by many events Wiesel experiences during his time in the concentration camps. For example, shortly after becoming a prisoner, some of the other men are reciting Kaddish and praising God. Wiesel, however, questions, “Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (42). The events that took place at the crematory begin to strip him of his religion, similarly to how his innocence slowly fades from him. Later on that night, he reflects on what had happened that day and states, “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (43). Not only did the the crematory kill his fellow Jews, it also killed his God. Wiesel does not doubt that God exists. He just no longer believes in his ultimate mercy. Instead, he believes God is cruel, unfair, and indifferent to suffering, which, consequently, is a God Wiesel