The book, Night, written by Eli Wiesel, is an eye opening novel that sheds light on the horrendous events of the Holocaust from the perspective of a survivor. Wiesel shares his tragic story to provide a strong impact on the way the world might view what happened. Hitler had a plan to completely eliminate the Jews, so he had set up concentration camps. One of the worst camps that was created was the Auschwitz concentration camp, it was known to be the most brutal of camps. Eli Wiesel and his family were of the many unfortunate Jews to be sent there. The purpose of the concentration camps was to efficiently terminate the Jew’s race, but along with that, Hitler had a goal to completely dehumanize them as well. At the camps, the Jews were totally …show more content…
“In a few seconds, we had ceased to be men.”, a quote by Wiesel when the men were given clothes not fitting, such as children’s pants and overly large jackets (Wiesel 37). This statement alone represents Hitler’s goal. By removing dignity, he was removing their own respect for themselves. Once one loses self-respect, why assume respect from anybody else? The loss of dignity created a gateway into their minds, a way to control them mentally. Wiesel’s father is punished unreasonably for asking to use the restroom—yet he accepts this brutality (Wiesel 39). He lost his dignity, now he has no assumption that he should be respected. This is the beginning of Hitler’s dehumanization, for without dignity, they forget that they have the right as men to be respected, it makes them believe they are less than …show more content…
This is how it was for the Jews after they were forced to run continuously in the snow for several days. During the run, the weak were killed and the stronger kept on without looking back. A son even left his father in order that he may have a better chance of survival (Wiesel 91)! The Jews were even treated like animals in a zoo. German’s threw bread crumbs into a wagon, and watched as the Jews fought over it like starved beasts (Wiesel 101). The amount of hunger they must have felt would have overcome any human characteristics they would have had before. The murders of their fellow inmates had no effect on their moralities— those killed were forgotten, survival was the only thing that mattered anymore. By this point, Hitler had achieved making them into less than man. He created beasts out of men, and now he planned on their termination. Night brings to life one of the most devastating events to happen in history. By reading it, one is able to see through the eyes of Eli Wiesel, a survivor of Hitler. The goal of Hitler was to exterminate the Jewish race, and although he overall failed, the families of the ones that were killed still live with grievance, as well as the survivors who live with regret and scars. Hitler did not erase the Jews, but he destroyed the dignity, the faith, and the humanity of those who were unfortunate enough to be brought into the