Lena Nielsen Mrs. Woida Honors English II 04 December 2023 Dehumanization in the Holocaust and the Massacre of Novgorod In Russia, the word ‘pogrom’ (погром) is defined by Oxford Languages as “an organized massacre of a particular ethnic group, in particular that of Jewish people in Russia or eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.” It is translated directly as “devastation”. This word has made its way into the English language as well, referring to the devastation of the Holocaust. The novella Night details the firsthand experience of being a Hungarian Jewish young man in 1944 taken to concentration camps in the Holocaust, written by Elie Wiesel. He was crammed into cattle cars for days on end only to reach the burning …show more content…
He experienced the brutal losses of his family, along with everything he owns, his faith, and almost his sanity. Many hundreds of miles away in 1570, a Russian tzar named Ivan IV Vasilyevich, better known now as Ivan the Terrible from an arguably more accurate mistranslation of his title “The Severe”, waged a massacre on the independently-minded city of Novgorod, lasting only five weeks yet leaving thousands dead; though the city’s population could not have been more than 100,000, around 30,000 were murdered, leaving 20,000 more to perish from the aftermath (Erenow, “Massacre- Ivan The Terrible”). Most buildings were destroyed and the greatness of Novgorod was no longer. Together, the factor of dehumanization in the Holocaust and in the massacre of Novgorod was a similarity between the two. Each devastating event had its own psychological tactics intended for dehumanization, had links between an individual’s …show more content…
For some, the abuse took root in their own heads, thus leading the victims to think of themselves just as the abuser intended; for others, they didn’t live long enough to face the effects. When Ivan the Terrible came to Novgorod, after several days of small killings and some humiliation of certain figures of the community, he ordered the people of Novgorod to be bound at the neck and/or legs, tied to sleds, to be “dragged across the snow to the wooden bridge across the Volkhov River to await their punishment” (Erenow, “Massacre- Ivan The Terrible”). This describes the most well-known torture and way of death Ivan IV used in Novgorod. Once these villagers were thrown either off the bridge itself or a higher platform built upon it, they- who of course couldn’t swim away, bound in the literally-freezing water- were greeted by a horrible sight. Ivan IV’s private police, the oprichniki, were below the bridge, sitting completely armed in boats. When the villagers sank in the water and rose again, flailing desperately, the oprichniki chopped them up (along with other, similar cruelties); the bodies sank once more (Erenow, “Massacre- Ivan The Terrible''). Having no say in this brutality tens of thousands of them died terrible deaths, some just like this and others so different. Conversely, Night shows us the side of trauma from dehumanization
“In a few seconds, we had ceased to be men” (Wiesel 36). This quote from Night, by Elie Wiesel, shows how almost immediately, the victims of the Holocaust were dehumanized. The prisoners were stripped of every quality that made them human and were changed to fit the Nazi’s needs. In his memoir, Wiesel tells the tragedy from his memories as a prisoner of the concentration camps, while gradually losing his faith in his religion and humanity. The loss of his identity, dignity, and the inhumane conditions he had to face are the most prominent ways the dehumanization changed Wiesel’s attitude, outlook, and identity.
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, the author describes his personal experience of the Holocaust from his teenage years to his liberation from one of the most horrific concentration camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau. The book is a haunting depiction of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, bringing to light the horrors of the Holocaust and the inhumane treatment of its victims. The book begins with Wiesel’s life in a small village in Transylvania, where he and his family are forced to move into a ghetto after the Nazis invade. The author narrates the brutal and dehumanizing conditions of life in the ghetto – lack of food, water, and sanitation, overcrowding, and disease.
Stripped of Humanity Have you ever imagined losing everything that makes you who you are? That's what happened to Elie, and his family as well as all Jew that lived during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel memoir called “Night” take us into his life as a young Jewish boy during that time. He describes the horrors that he and his fellow Jews had to go through during the Holocaust as well as the deaths of his family. He describes the harsh and inhumane living conditions that prisoners were forced to endure in concentration camps.
In what ways did the dehumanization of Jewish people impact their lives? The pieces of writing, Night by Elie Wiesel, “Five Chimneys” by Olga Lengyel, and the diary of Moshe Flinker all represent a prominent theme. The dehumanization of Jewish people causes their hopes to be diminished and people wanted to just die inside the ghettos and concentration camps. In the story Night, Elie Wiesel is a teenage boy trying to survive the Holocaust.
Brady Ravin Mrs. Ramsey English January 31st, 2023 The Horrors of the Holocaust Six million, the estimated number of Jewish people that died during the holocaust. Each one of them led their own life, each one of them was a person just like anyone else, and each one of them witnessed countless horrific sights. All of these deaths and horrors were avoidable. The book Night written by Elie Wiesel is a first person account of what the experience in a concentration camp was like. He and a man by the name of Rudolf Acohen will be the focus of this essay, but they are not the only ones who suffered; millions upon millions of people suffered through the horrors of the holocaust.
Through the stages Dehumanization, the gruesome act of stripping one of their positive human qualities or traits. This process happens more than most people realize; it's especially common in any abusive atmosphere. However it is very common for many of the humans that have experienced the act of dehumanization to not even realize it has even happened to them. Alternatively those who do realize notice there are usually stages that one goes through during this time being naivety, survival, and finally acceptance. Being naive is something that almost everyone experiences at least once in their life.
Dehumanization of the Jews During the Holocaust, dehumanization of the Jews took place. The Natzis would do several things to try and make the Jews feel like animals and nothing more. They wanted to show that the Jews were a race that should have not existed. They would go to any means to complete their objective of an Aryan race.
The victims traveled by railway in cattle trucks. The victims kept in these wagons were kept in very poor conditions. When the prisoners were brought to the camp, they were not told what the camp actually was. They were told that they had arrived at a transit camp. The prisoners had to undress for disinfection and showering before entering the main camp.
The Death of Ivan Ilych is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy during the late 18th century. In this short story, Leo Tolstoy writes about a man named Ivan Ilych a very ambitious government official who has an untreatable illness who dies slowly, lonely and without the support of his family. This paper will convey Tolstoy’s theme in the Death of Ivan Ilych of Ivan Ilych superficial values and how it is reflected on his family and himself. This could be seen through Ivan Ilych and his wife throughout the short story as both express superficial values to each other.
At first these thoughts are only passing and hold little weight in his mind, but as his pain worsens and his chances of survival begin to slim, however, the reality becomes clear to him. Ivan goes so far to describe his actions as suffering upon his family and wishes to prevent further harm to them. This theme shows the reader that redemption is possible until one’s last breath. Ivan no longer feels jealousy for his wife and daughter for their liveliness and hatred for them because of their disdain for him, but rather sorrow for the pain he caused them and a realization that he created their disdain for
People’s suffering was worse than the hell. People were carried in the quarters of death, they were burned, carried in chambers . People were heartlessly exterminated
Night is a powerful, first person account of the tragic horrors of the Holocaust written and endured by Elie Wiesel. In this dark literary piece, Wiesel's first hand tale of the atrocities and horrors endured in World War II concentration camps will leave an unforgettable, dark, macabre impression amongst readers that cannot be done with a simple listing of statistics. This tale of human perserverance and the dark side of human nature will cause readers to question their own humanity. Also, it will paint a vivid picture of the vile deeds that mankind is capable of expressing. Reading this book will leave a long lasting impression that is definitely not something that will be soon forgotten.
In which millions of Jews were innocently killed and persecuted because of their religion. As a student who is familiar with the years of the holocaust that will forever live in infamy, Wiesel’s memoir has undoubtedly changed my perspective. Throughout the text, I have been emotionally touched by the topics of dehumanization, the young life of Elie Wiesel, and gained a better understanding of the Holocaust. With how dehumanization was portrayed through words, pondering my mind the most.
Vladimir Sorokin's novel Day of the Oprichnik is a scathing critique of present-day Russia. The book is set in a fictional future Russia, where the ruling class has revived the Oprichnina, a brutal system of governance used by Ivan the Terrible in the sixteenth century. Through the character of Andrei Danilovich Komiaga, a high-ranking Oprichnik, Sorokin exposes the corruption, violence, and hypocrisy of modern-day Russia. This essay will discuss Sorokin's satirical approach in the book and how it highlights the problems of contemporary Russia.
Saint Petersburg, the setting of Crime and Punishment, plays a major role in the formation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel. Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a subject of his environment. Dostoyevsky paints 1860s St. Petersburg as an overcrowded, filthy, and chaotic city. It is because of Saint Petersburg that Raskolnikov is able to foster in his immoral thoughts and satisfy his evil inclinations. It is only when Raskolnikov is removed from the disorderly city and taken to the remoteness of Siberia that he can once again be at peace.