Night a Testament to Humankind

Night A Testament to Humankind

The Holocaust was the worst case of genocide human kind has ever experience. This genocide ended with the killings of nearly six million Jews by the Nazi regime. It is described as a systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of the Jewish ethnicity. The term "Holocaust" is derived from Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire" In 1933 when the Nazis came to power in Germany, they believed that Germans were "racially superior" and proclaimed the Jews to be "inferior" believing them to be an alien threat to the German racial community. The Holocaust didn't just test the Jewish ethnicity but also their faith in God, their faith in themselves, and their faith in humanity. Elie Wiesel account of his experience is depicted in his book "Night" it is a testament to not only the history of the Holocaust but also its effects on humanity.

The "Night" begins in the year 1941, Elie the author of the book is a twelve year old boy, that is not just studious but also very religious he enjoyed starting his days studying the Talmud (Jewish religious text) and praying in the temple at nights. Being that he was so religious he always had faith in God, he never would have dreamt nor could he imagine that God would ever abandon him. Once he and his family were herded off in the cattle trains to the containment camps Elie didn't just embark on his journey thru the Holocaust but also on a journey testing his faith in God. At first Elie had faith the God would help him thru this, but as the days past and more and more horrific events kept happening you could see that he was slowly losing his faith.

"I did not fast, mainly to please my father, who had forbidden me to do so. But further, there was no longer any reason why I should fast. I no longer accepted God's silence. As I swallowed my bowl of soup, I saw in the gesture an act of rebellion and protest against him" pg 66. He along with many others began to lose their faith in God they wondered how he could sit back and allow all that has occurred to happen. They wondered how he could sit back and allow babies to be used as target practice, and women and children to simply be stacked up and burned. "Where is God? Where is He" is all anyone could say. There was an incident where they watched a young pipel be hung for his association with those accused of sabotaging an electric power station. This young pipel was lighter than the others and hung for over a half an hour struggling for his life. This was one of the many events that occurred where more and more Jews began to lose their faith in God. These public hangings were a way to intimidate the Jews in to doing what the Germans wanted out of fear of being hung. However these hangings happened so often that they became almost normal. Many Jews entered the Holocaust with a strong belief in god but nearly all whom survived it, left with little to no beliefs he exist and these events was something he wanted. Their belief in God was not the only thing tested people began to lose faith in themselves. Those who were against hurting others and always tried to do the right thing would slowly jump ship to save themselves.

As the days went by the Jews were starting to realize that it was every man for himself. They would begin to see that the bonds they've forged with others would deem a burden more then an advantage. An example being Elie and his father like others entered the journey of the Holocaust together. When they first got to the containment center they were separated from his mother and sisters and left knowing they would never see them again. Lying about his age allowed the two a chance to stay together; they knew their best ways of survival was to stick together. Thru the many selection they remained together, his father however was always concerned about being able to pass each selection and Elie would do all he could to help. As time progress and the scars of each event took their toll, Elie began think of life without the burden of his father, it was after witnessing a son kill his father for a piece of bread, only to later be killed himself for that bread did Elie realized just what type of person he had become. Hoping to lose the burden of his father was truly the worst, Elie was forced to endure the person