In Night, Elie Weizel must endure certain aspects of the Holocaust, not only the constant threat of death but of the total dehumanization and decivilization of the Jewish people.
In the beginning, the incredulity, both of the Jews as well as of the rest of the world sets a trap for the Jews, thus enabling the German armies to kidnap the Jewish people from their homes and put them, almost willingly into cattle cars to be deported. Even with several warnings, coming from Moishe the Beadle as well as from Mara and from the friend of the Weizel family in the Hungarian police, the Weizels, along with all their fellow citizens, refuse to acknowledge the signs of danger. Elie states that to the last moment, people clung to hope (p. 15). He also tries to reason away the terrible rumours that Moishe brings, by reasoning that the war is almost over, that it is the middle of the twentieth century and surely no one would do such horrendous things. The people had so many warnings, there were so many signs, and yet, because they didnt want to believe what could happen to them, they pretended that their fears were unfounded.
The hope of the Jewish people as well as their connection to family prevented them from heeding the warnings. When Mara comes to them and begs them to come with her, naturally [they] refused to be separated (p. 20). It seems that the Germans knew what was the most effective way to herd the Jews together, what was the best way to keep them from running. The Jews would not be separated from their families and their homes until forced to, and they would not be separated from humanitarian ideas or the believe that evil could exist without protest. They try to silence Ms. Schacter, becoming more and more violent when she screams Jews, listen to meI see a fire! I see flames, huge flames! (p. 25) suggesting that they know what they are fated to, and yet, are not willing to admit it to themselves. There are so many warnings, so many subconscious doubts, and yet the Jews cannot make themselves admit their future, lest they go mad with fear.
While in the camp, though Elie notes ironically how he is constantly in danger of dying, he is much more preoccupied with the death of the spirit. If there is a way to utterly destroy a people, death may not be the ultimate solution. The dehumanization that Elie witnesses, the undermining of Jewish values seems to have been a far more effective solution for Hitler and the SS. As Elie basically came into the camp with no more than a father- son connection, it is this that he must hold on to for as long as he possibly can. But, like the gold crowns and the shoes and the belts, the concentration camp has a way of slowly taking that from Elie. Elies potential foil seems to be Rabbi Eliahus son, who is grateful (if unconsciously) to have his fathers weight taken from his shoulders. When Rabbi Eliahus son abandons his father during the march, Elie realizes what he the son is doing. For Elie, abandoning his father is the thing he fears the most. Later, when Elie is giving his soup to his father, he realizes that [his] heart was heavy. [He] was aware that [he] was doing it grudgingly. Just like Rabbi Eliahus son, [he] had not passed the test (p. 107). The Nazis were able to make so horrible a place, that only the most basic desires could be followed. To kill or begrudge a dying father a crust of bread in order to ease the hunger pains shows an utter undermining of the strong familial ties of the Jewish people.
Additionally, Elie finds his faith falter as he sees all the terror and suffering that God has allowed. Elie states that for the first time, I felt anger rising within me. 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? (p. 33) Though the Jewish God is often portrayed as a God of terrible wrath, Elie finds it terrible to see how much their God might make them suffer. He notes the irony in the similarity between his people and the worst of Biblical sinners. He questions perhaps the sanity and the justness of that which he had worshipped his entire life when he asks, But look at these men whom You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise Your name! (p. 68) For Elie, the loss of faith in a benevolent God seems to make him stronger, albeit less Jewish. But for others, such as Meir Katz, the loss of faith completely destroys them. Elie watches as Meir Katz, the strong one, the sturdiest of us all, began to cryonly now did he fall apart. He could not go on. He had reached the end (p. 102). Though Elies father tells him to hold on, Meir can no longer do so because of the horrors he has seen, because of his loss of faith for people and perhaps, for God. By forcing Jews to lose their God, seemingly from their own weakness, the Nazis literally and figuratively are able to exterminate Jews. Those who cannot live with such disillusionment either die from the lack of will to go on, or, similar to Elie, turn their back on their God. Elie uses the hanging of the little pipel to state his idea on what has happened to God in his life. For Gods sake, where is God? And from within me, I heard a voice answer: Where He is? This is wherehanging from the gallows (p. 65) The Nazis use horror to kill the Jewish people as well as the Jewish faith.
Perhaps the Nazis are able to so utterly destroy these people because the camps are set up to create the mentality that these people who are their prisoners are not people. When Elies father asks for a toilet (p. 39), he is stared at, as though the guard wished to ascertain that the person addressing him was actually a creature of flesh and bone (p. 39). Additionally, the process of showering and disinfecting the Jews before entering each camp seems to be a way, not to keep the Jews clean and healthy, but rather to set a mentality that Jews are dirty things, like plagues. They are not human, nor are they sanitary enough for human contact. When Elies camp is taken by his guards, both the guards and the girls seem to treat the people as no more than a herd of sheep. They act as though the Jews are little more than animals, and do not seem to notice the ravaged faces of tortured people. The guards are not afraid to show their prisoners to these German citizens, nor do the girls pay attention to the apparent suffering of these people. The girls notice, but since they have been taught that Jews are evil and subservient, they do not protest against what is happening to these people.
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Review of “Night” | Chelsea Manning
