Dehumanization: to deprive of human qualities or attributes; divest of individuality. (Dictionary.com) In the book “Night”, Elie Wiesel, a 15 year old boy, describes the cruel, and dehumanizing treatment by the Nazi’s during the Holocaust. Europe, January of 1933, is the point in time where it all changed. Jews became the helpless victims of the German Nazi political party, and were innocent to the idea of what was coming for them. During this time, Nazi soldiers, and leaders, deprived Jews of all human characteristics by taking away their basic human rights, withdrawing them from their identity, and forcing them to march til death. It started with the yellow star. A yellow star that changed many lives. German forces had just begun to show up on the streets …show more content…
When they first arrived, the torture began minimal but grew outrageously. “Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star” (11). The Jews at this point did not think much of this action, but really it is what started it all. The yellow star was not just for the amusement of the German forces, but as a way for them to recognize who was Jewish. German soldiers would humiliate Jews in the streets, laughing, and making fun of them. Next, Jews were not able to be in the streets after 6, and could not attend synagogue. “We no longer had the right to frequent restaurants of cafes, [or] to travel by rail” (11). If people caught wearing a yellow star we’re breaking curfew or the new laws, they would be shot in front of everybody to make a point. Not having the right to go where you want, when you want is awful to think about. Next came their organization strategies which completely exterminated Jews from their identity. When Jews first arrived in concentration camps, they were sent through many treacherous stations. The worst of all was the moment when Eliezer became non-existent. “The three veteran prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then
Himself, along with his father, stopped working because of the chaos of signs of war. Later, in 1942 the yellow stars were given for Jews to wear. There were very strict laws set saying what they could or could not do. In the summer of 1942, the selecting of boys and men to be taken to concentration camps had begun. One day, the Nazis came knocking on their door.
The Holocaust is the most significant historical event that I have studied so far. This tragic event took place during World War II and only very few survivors lived to share their shocking experiences. I have read a few of these survivor’s stories, such as Night, by Elie Wiesel and it has personally impacted me and influenced my thinking in various ways. The Holocaust was the greatest act of hate, violence, and anti-semitism.
It stripped all the human rights of Jews by the use of the Nuremberg laws which were The Reich Citizenship Law and The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. The Reich citizenship law defined a citizen as a person who has German or related blood. This meant that Jews, could not be full citizens of Germany if they had one or more grandparents that were a jew. The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor was a law against what the Nazis viewed as race-mixing. It banned marriages and sexual relations between Jews and people of German or related blood.
Throughout Night, dehumanization consistently took place as the tyrant Nazis oppressed the Jewish citizens. The Nazis targeted the Jews' humanity, and slowly dissolved their feeling of being human. The feeling of dehumanization was very common between the jews. They were constantly being treated as in they were animals. The author and narrator Elie Wiesel, personally experienced being treated like an animal
In Night one of the ways that the Jews were dehumanized was by abuse. There were beatings, “I never felt anything except the lashes of the whip... Only the first really hurt.” (Wiesel, 57) “They were forced to dig huge trenches. When they had finished their work, the men from the Gestapo began theirs.
The Holocaust was a period of time where Jews were violently persecuted throughout Europe, at one point, all Jews were either in hiding or concentration camps. The attacks of Kristallnacht showed the public the Nazi’s “inherent extremism”, and their definite attitude towards those who opposed them. After the attacks, everyone understood that “it would not get better at all, and Jews knew only a dark future” (“Night Hope Shattered”). Although Kristallnacht slightly after the start of the Holocaust, it gave rise to another level of the persecution of Jews. After Kristallnacht, Jews, Germans, and other Europeans were reminded of the Nazi’s continued reign over a large portion of
Night Final Open Ended Question Night, written by Elie Wiesel, is a memoir about his life as he goes through the Holocaust. Eliezer goes through many situations that cause him, and other Jews, to be dehumanized by the Nazis. The three levels of dehumanization are physical, mental, and emotional. Eliezer was affected by all three. Never in his whole life did he imagine that this would happen to him or his family.
What can we learn about human nature from the book Night? Human nature is the general psychological characteristics, feelings, and qualities of humankind which determines human behavior and motivation. We can learn that there is a lot of examples of human nature in the book Night like losing hope during desperate times, doing anything for food and going to the extreme for pleasure and sex. Night shows us that human nature will lose hope during desperate times, that they will just give up when they're in pain. For example in Night on page 105 second paragraph, it states “I can't anymore . . .
Dehumanization Causing Events in Night Over the course of Eliezer’s holocaust experience in the novel Night, the Jews are gradually reduced to little more that “things” which were a nuisance to Nazis. This process was called dehumanization. Three examples of events that occurred which contributed to the dehumanization of Eliezer, his father, and his fellow Jews are: people were divided both mentally and physically, those who could not work or who showed weakness were killed, and public executions were held.
The identity change for many Jews began in the events leading to the concentration camps and upon entering the concentration camps. For example, the instant the Jews were seized by the Hungarian police, “every Jew had to wear the yellow star,” making it known to others of their Jewish faith. (Wiesel 11). This star did not necessarily give them a new identity, but instead singled out all Jews. In addition, once in the concentration camp Eliezer, “became
Due to the extremely high death rate among prisoners, camp authorities facilitated an efficient identification process, which is how the dehumanizing tattoo system was first introduced. Leonard Hoenig revealed, “over 400,000 inmates were registered at Auschwitz-Birkaneu during [World War II], and a vast majority of these prisoners were tattooed,” and became victims of the, “…elaborate, systematic campaign of the Nazis to annihilate the Jewish people of Europe” (1167). This number became the prisoners’ new identites, forcing the deprivation of the joys and memories that had once filled their life. In addition, Frankl explained that the Nazi guards, “never asked for [a prisoner’s name],” because, “each of them was nothing but a number” (5). Therefore, once the coded number was tattooed and sewn on a prisoner’s clothes, their past identity ceased to exist.
For starters, when Eliezer and the other prisoners got to Auschwitz they were forced to get a tattoo of numbers, the only name the Nazi’s will call him. Miserably the Jews filed past a table, “I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name” (Wiesel 42). This shows the dehumanization of Eliezer because now he is referred to as a number rather than a human being with a name. Another example of dehumanization occurs in the beginning when they were crammed into cattle cars.
In 1939, World War II began when the Nazi Party, invaded Poland, causing six to nine million Jewish people to fear for their lives. This fear began when all citizens had to register with the government, and the Jews had to wear the Star of David. Second, the Jews were forced into ghettos. Third, they were moved to concentration and death camps. For example, in “Resistance During the Holocaust” we see different ways of actively and passively resisting Nazi atrocities.
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.
Long Hours Of Darkness That dehumanization his like abusing someone to take away somebody's freedom as it how it was back then slavery the whites was treating the black like animals. In the book of night there is like groups of people that's fighting for freedom it's like dehumanization. What i read was the book called “Night” by Elie Wiesel