Throughout the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel goes through a lot of changes as he and his father are put through torture in concentration camps. When Wiesel was fifteen he was separated from his mother and sisters when they were being grouped into camps. For about a year Wiesel, along with everyone else in the camps, is stripped of humane treatment. They are dehumanized to the point where they are treated like objects. Wiesel is dehumanized and is no longer treated as a human with feelings, but as an object that doesn't deserve a life. He faces many acts that take away his meaning and identity. The Nazis used methods of dehumanization to take away their individuality and make them feel no longer human, which led him to lose his identity. …show more content…
It was right before Wiesel’s ghetto was moved to a concentration camp and their whole worlds were going to change. One of the first acts of dehumanization Wiesel faced was when all the Jews had to wear a yellow star, “The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal” (Wiesel, 11) All of the Jewish people had to wear a yellow star on their sleeve signifying that they were Jewish. The yellow star symbolized how the German people judged others' worth on whether they wore a colored star on their arm. taking their identity down to a singular armband. It reduced them from not being judged on whether they were a good person or if they were smart to just what they were wearing. The stars took away their individuality. Taking away individuality was a big part of dehumanization. “All Jews outside” (Wiesel, 18) The Nazis used dialogue in referring to everyone in the ghetto. Saying “all Jews outside” reduced them to only that. Again, forgetting everything else which makes them unique, and what kind of person they are. They were grouped and treated as one, no matter how many there were. The first signs of dehumanization slowly led to more personal …show more content…
During Rosh Hashanah, the prisoners got together to participate in their ceremony “ I was nothing but ashes now.” (Wiesel, 68) Wiesel uses a metaphor to show how he felt empty after all he had been put through. Wiesel had seen his whole life go up into smoke, constantly seeing the crematorium and all the ashes and death. Wiesel sat thinking to himself, slowly losing faith in God. God was a big part of his identity and after the camp, he felt he lost God and his identity. It was one of the first times he was able to sit and reminisce over what he's been through. The constant fear and viewing of death, the tiny portions of bread and soup, and the physical labor and torture left Wiesel feeling empty and nothing more than ashes. He was no longer a human filled with deep emotions, but instead, ashes. Wiesel and the other prisoners promise one of their friends they would say Kaddish for him after he passed, “And three days after he left, we forgot to say kaddish” (Wiesel, 77) If they never went to a concentration camp and life went on as normal for them if one of their friends passed they would remember forever. Unfortunately, under their circumstances, death was so common that after only three days they had forgotten. Saying kaddish (a prayer) was a way to honor and pray for his passing. Praying and participating in religious activities was something that brought their community together, even in the camps. Wiesel
“The Hungarian police burst into every Jewish home in town: a Jew was henceforth forbidden to own gold, jewelry, or any valuables”(p10 & 11).This memoir is discussing about the dehumanization of Jews by a man named Elie Wiesel who has survived the holocaust. The process of getting rid of Jews began in 1944 starting by grabbing any valuables Jews have and forcing them to wear stars on them. When Jews don’t have any valuables and making them wear the stars , the Jews can’t buy anything showing that Jews are weak and poor and they are just people that should not be in this world. “The yellow star? So what?
The first dehumanizing act the Nazis perpetrate on the Jews is removing the normality from their everyday life. In Spring 1941, “German Army vehicles made their appearance” (Wiesel 9) on the streets of Sighet, yet the Jews showed no anguish. However, the harmony is short-lived; “the race toward death had begun” (Wiesel 10). The Nazis enforce rules that strip the Jews of their humanity: “jews were prohibited from
In the memoir, “Night” Elie Wiesel discusses the theme of Dehumanization through Mistreatment in concentration camps and the loss of self-identity. The Dehumanization that Elie goes through has scarred his life forever.
To illustrate, the Nazis treated the Jews as if they were animals and were to obey the rules and if not, had a life-threatening consequence. The SS leader said “If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot like dogs” (Wiesel 24). On many occasions, the Jews were shot for no other reason than cruelty. The Nazis made sure the Jews understood that if a rule was broken they would be punished. In addition to referring to
“Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star”(Wiesel 11). The Germans used this particular symbol to segregate all the Jews and show that they are in control. Every person holds true to their own personality and beliefs, but once the Germans assigned a star to each Jew, they were all considered to be the same. The yellow star also symbolizes all of the labels and restrictions that that the Nazi’s established. The star was a clear marker of segregation and it emphasized the fact that the Jews had no rights to anything
The Yellow Star “Men to the left! Woman to the right!”(Wiesel 4). It was the spring of 1944, when the narrator of the memoir, Eliezer, experienced the most unforgettable event of his life; the Nazis had began to take control of Sighet, which is the hometown of Eliezer . As Eliezer expresses, “A prolonged whistle split the air. The wheels began to grind.
In the camps, Wiesel amongst the other prisoners would get beaten, struck by whips, shot, and much more. When Wiesel and his father believed they were going to the crematorium his father began to pray. As Wiesel heard him he thought, ¨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.
For instance, Elie Wiesel said, “When the three days were up, there was a new decrees: every Jew must wear the yellow star.” The following relates to symbolization because the Jews were identified and then had to wear the yellow star so the Nazis would know who they were even in broad daylight. The yellow star had to be worn at all times and where everyone could see, and since it was so easily seen, the Jews with the stars were easy targets. The Yellow Star and the Bible are similar in symbolization because anyone seen with it were on the death list of those with
The yellow star represents a small act of discrimination The Jews were forced to turn over their valuables to the Jewish council which would then be turned over to the Nazis. Many Jews hid their valuables from the Nazis so they could use them, later on, to bribe soldiers to warn the Jews about what was happening, get extra food, get better jobs, and gain information on where they were going next. When the Nazis forced the Jews to turn over their valuables, it showed the control the Nazis had over the Jewish people. The control the Nazis had over the Jews frightened them so much that they had no other choice but to obey the Nazi's orders. These examples demonstrate worsening discrimination, which societies should look out
When Elie and his father arrive at Auschwitz they are immediately separated from the rest of their family. They, along with many others, are put on a march to a pit and as they see they are marching to their death, people begin to recite Kaddish. Elie hears this and says, “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify his name?” However, just a few moments later Wiesel states, “I found myself whispering the words: yisgadal, veyiskadash, shmey raba.”
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer Wiesel narrates the legendary tale of what happened to him and his father during the Holocaust. In the introduction, Wiesel talks about how his village in Seghet was never worried about the war until it was too late. Wiesel’s village received advanced notice of the Germans, but the whole village ignored it. Throughout the entire account, Wiesel has many traits that are key to his survival in the concertation camps.
During the Holocaust, the yellow star badge was assigned to the Jews during Hitler’s reign. This badge is a good example of a symbol. To Hitler and the Nazis, the yellow star symbolized that whomever wore it was a Jew. To the Jews, whomever wore this badge were to be sent to the concentration camps. They either worked there, were cremated at the crematory, or both.
Wiesel lost a huge part of his identity that day like many other jews in the camps when the Nazis stripped their names away. The jews lost many things during WWll similar to
(wiesel 11). Wiesel, His family and the rest of the Jews in sighet were forced to move to the ghettos (a slum section of any country). Then deportation had started, groups were taken from the ghettos and were put in the cattle carts with no food or water and was sent to the concentration camps. “There are eighty of you in the car, the German police added, “If anyone goes missing you will all be shot like dogs.” (Wiesel 24).
Germans started with first making the jews wear a star on their clothing to segregate them from the german people. Later, what took place was the Placement of all Jews in ghettos. At first the Jews didn't pay much mind to it since they thought being with their own made things better. However, this later was proven