The Jews of Sighet have an amazing, but irrational ability to be foolishly in the face of tragedy and danger. Barely a few pages in, action has already stirred up with all foreign Jews being expelled from Sighet. Yet, even with such drastic changes, the Jews of Sighet somehow just brush it off as though it nothing had occurred, and thus “the deportees were quickly forgotten...rumored to be working...and even...content with their fate” (Wiesel 6 emphasis added). The “forgotten” Jews had once been the neighbors and friends of those in Sighet. Yet, as foreigners are snatched away from their homes, the Sighet Jews dismiss them almost without a second though, merely spreading a rumor that the stolen Jews were content with whatever happened to them. …show more content…
When they learn of Hitler’s radical plan to wipe their race, they simply reject the notion, claiming that “Hitler [would] not be able to harm [them], even if he [wanted] to” (7). Hitler and his actions were undoubtedly notorious during these times, yet the Jews of Sighet act as though he is silly and harmless. The elders of Sighet were so fearless that they “concerned themselves with all manner of things,” Elie reports, “but not with their own fate” (8 emphasis added). Despite their race directly making them primary targets of the German army, the Jews are so unafraid that they are concerned with many things except “their own fate.” The Jews of Sighet remained in this state of denial up until “German army vehicles made their appearance on [their] streets” (9). Even then, the citizens felt that the “German soldiers – with their steel helmets and death’s-head emblem” did not frighten the Jews; they were even seen to be “rather reassuring.” Hitler’s Germans, the very people sent out to exterminate Jews did not so much as even draw out a sliver of anxiety from those in Sighet. Their impression of what should be their greatest hazard was more “reassuring” than