Jordan 3rd Post

Elie, you wrote a heat wrenching book that details such inhumanity, yet bring out the specialty of life itself. After reading your book, it is hard to imagine that this actually occurred. As Elie said himself, you can’t make sense of something as immoral and dehumanizing as the Holocaust. At times, I ask myself why? Why would they ever do this? How can no S.S. officers question what is happening in front of them? How can no officers show sympathy for the millions of people that they are starving and working to death? But I can’t answer them, as I have and wish that I will ever experience something like this to find these answers.

            I mean how inhumane to a human be to another human. On bone chilling quote was said by the S.S officer as he demanded them to run faster in the cold snow. “Faster, you tramps, you flea ridden dogs!” (Wiesel 85). Seriously? How can a human be compared to a dog, and then be treated even worse than a dog actually would be? There is no point in trying to make sense of it because none can ever be made. It is just the idea of the Holocaust that makes me uneasy. But after hearing the details, like from this book, it is unfathomable. The one line that I found the most remarkable in the entire book was when he said how “the last day was the most lethal. We had been a hundred or so in this wagon. Twelve of us left it” (103). It is just sad how they really were never given an actually chance to survive. They basically put them in a freezing cold train for a few days without food and water, and they didn’t really care if you lived or died. In their eyes, if you died they didn’t care, and if you lived they didn’t care. It is gruesome and I like to look through the eyes of Wiesel after reading this. With the book, and his interview, the best thing in my opinion is to say nothing.

Ethan Lanciaux third post

Dear Father,

            I understand that you can not go on and that this struggle has taken much too hard of a toll on you. But I’m writing this letter not to tell you of my grief and sorrow but to inspire myself. To almost reassure myself that I must carry on for you and for mother and Tzipora. To tell you that I promise to carry on with the thought of you and my mother in mind. To be honest I struggle to hold on to those thoughts of you. I struggle to believe in myself that I can carry on and keep you in mind. As hard as this is to say, I struggle to feel sorrow and emptiness in your absence. As a matter of fact it is almost a weight of my shoulders. To be lifted of the stress and pressure just tearing me apart. I struggle enough trying to keep myself alive now that you are gone and to think that I was doing that and carrying your life on my shoulders amazes even me. It shows me that I do have the strength to survive anything to persevere through the hardest struggles and come out alive. But I continue to ask myself what you will think of this. I know that someday in the afterlife we will be rejoiced again and that we will look back onto what happened in the camps. I wonder will you be angered that I feel this way. Does it hurt you that you were just added stress in my life? I am angry at myself for feeling this way but I have no other feelings. All I want to say is I love you and hope that you are in a better place in the great beyond. But then again even hell might be better than this place. And I here its warmer there too. 

Shelbee's 3rd reflection

The last section of Night cannot be described with any adjective. In fact, there is no adjective that can accurately describe the accounts of Elie Wiesel’s life. No word would do it justice. After reading these last pages I feel not only emotionally distraught, but also as if there is a part of me missing even though I know that I have gained so much from reading Night. It’s a book that will stick with me forever- one that I won’t soon forget. Night has opened up my eyes and I realize now why Elie Wiesel would wish for his story to always be known. It is incredibly important for humans to understand the evils that they can produce.

In the last 40 pages or so of Night all of the victims are more exhausted than ever. Basically any hope that still remained was quickly thrown out the window with the sad realization that in most of their cases, there was not going to be a happy ending because even if they did survive they would never overcome the trauma that comes with surviving. At one point in the story, Elie Wiesel even expressed his lack of hope when he said, “Suddenly, the evidence overwhelmed me: there was no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight.” (99). Like I said before, Wiesel was not the only one to feel this way – many others did too; at one point a person asked, “Why don’t they just shoot us now?” (103). Faith no longer existed in the concentration camps. In addition to this, one of the main conflicts in the last part of Night was between Elie Wiesel and his father on whether or not Wiesel’s father should keep battling to survive. Wiesel would do anything to keep his father alive, but his father wished otherwise and just wanted to give up because it became too agonizing.

Lastly, I must discuss the savagery that was uncovered in the camps and Wiesel’s darker feelings on his father’s death. First off, as the end neared for the victims of the concentration camps, many people became vicious and walked all over other humans to survive. An “every man for himself” theme started to apply when savage instincts kicked in. At one part of the story, when many of the people haven’t eaten in several days, a father and a son were given some bread and Elie Wiesel described the aftermath, “His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it. He didn’t get far. Two men had been watching him. They jumped him. Others joined in. when they withdrew there were two dead bodies next to me, the father and the son.” (101-102). I had to read this short passage over a few times just to digest what I had actually just read. Humans resorted to murdering a father and his son – with their bare hands – over a piece of bread to keep themselves alive. This had my mind racing. What would I do in this scenario? Would I or anyone I know today, resort to this savage nature? What would be more important: surviving or keeping my morals intact? I’m not sure if I can even answer these questions because I have never been faced with a similar scenario.

Towards the end of Night Elie Wiesel explains that the Rabbi’s son knew that he was running further from his father and purposefully putting a gap between the two even though he knew his father might’ve died because he was weak. After this, Wiesel pledges to never be like the Rabbi’s son and abandon his father when he says, “Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Elihau’s son has done.” (91) Ironically, when Elie Wiesel’s father is on his death bed, the Blockalteste explains something to him, “In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone.” (110). Sure enough, Wiesel ends up ignoring his father’s last wishes; even when he is desperately being summoned to his father’s deathbed. Elie Wiesel let his savagery get the best of him and he gave into his “id” desires and ignored his father to spare himself. Although it seems awful, I have to ask myself, would I do the same thing if I was in such a fragile state? So, I ask you, reader, do you know what you would have done? Would you have given into the id desires like Wiesel? Although you think you may now the answer, the truth is you do not because you will never know how you would react until you are placed in the same situation.

Here's more information on ego/superego/id

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/personalityelem.htm

Nicole Mowry Post 3

I have reached the end of your story, the end of your troubles and misery, at least the end of the beginning.  Forever, you will be haunted by these memories.  The story you told was unbelievable, truly.  Your fathers death was inevitable, as he did not have the same inner fighting spirit that you did. Once he did die, you were put in the children's block. This made me double take because as I was reading your story, I never thought of you as a child, a mere 15, 16 year old boy.  Your actions towards your father and the situation forced you to grow up so fast. You didn't really have a teenage life as you went straight from a child to a grown up, a weary adult.  At Buchenwald, he was intensely sick and had lost the will to live.  When he asked you for water, you acknowledged that it would be the, "worst poison for him," (Wiesel 110).  Even though giving in to his wishes and giving him water wouldn't be helpful to his health, you did it anyways because he wanted you too.  That decision must have been hard to make because on one hand, you want him to be able to live.  On the other, you know that he won't be able to survive mich longer, so you obey him.  The loyalty to him is admirable.  A few months after your fathers death, you and those remaining are saved. You just barely escaped death for almost the last time when the SS officers were starting to kill everyone left in the camp (the struggle with the poisoning after being free being your last dance with death).  After your execution is pushed back more than once, the Americans penetrate the camp and the survivors, you included, are freed.  It is still strange to me that you are able to forget about revenge on those that killed your loved ones and put you through so much pain and angst.  And it is not only you, but everyone.  You say that all you could think about was food, "no thought of revenge," (115).
One last thought that I have on the end of your story is of the last couple of lines you say, "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.  The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me," (115). These words are extremely powerful and sum up how you must be feeling all these years later, haunted by your past.  The shadow of the past must linger in your mind all the time, making you question humanity and your own actions, but yet you preserve your strong idea that humans have flaws, and we all have these flaws no matter who you are.



Here is a link to an article written by Elie Wiesel himself:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89357808

Caitlyn's 3rd Reflection

Dear Mr. Wiesel,
   
     I must say, I was relieved that you were able to make it out of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. The torture that you endured should never be experienced by any living creature.

     First off, I cannot imagine walking, even running, the distances that you traveled right after the surgery on your foot. Just the fact that you wanted yourself and your father to live is remarkable. Tell me, was it hard to hear that the prisoners left in Auschwitz were liberated, right after you and your father left? I mean, you were traveling on an injured foot, and your father was weaker that you. You were only, what, fifteen? Sixteen? I would have probably given up at that point if I had to help my father travel those distances, in such a weakened state. You even argued with him to sleep, when you knew he was right in saying "it's dangerous to fall asleep in snow" (88). You wanted him to sleep to conserve energy. Or, and I'm sorry if I offend you by saying this, did you want him to fall asleep so he would die, and be better off? It would've helped you. You could have traveled farther faster and not even worry about where your father is.

    How did you feel when you had finally traveled that far, made it that long, and your father got sick? I would be worried. You had used much of your energy to help keep him alive, and now he was dying. Or how did you feel, waking up on that morning and seeing "on [your] father's cot lay another sick person" (112). These men just took your father away from you, literally from right under your nose. The audacity of the doctors to not even alert you to this. How did you feel?

     Then, finally, you got out. The camps were liberated. How did you feel about that, knowing that the camps were liberated just days after your father's death? Were you relieved that you made it out? Or were you angry that the troops couldn't come sooner, to save your father?

     You survived unimaginable terror, and you live to tell our generation about it. Your story will never be forgotten.

Jordan 2nd Post

Dear, Elie Wiesel

                After reading part of your book there is still many questions in my head. The most surprising thing I found in your account was your willingness to lose faith in such an awful time. When you went as far to say “Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in my body rebelled. Because he caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves... Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar (Wiesel 67), I was shocked. As I recalled from the beginning you were sent to the camp in the first place because you believed in that religion. But, when times got bad it shocked me how you deny your own religion. I would think that someone would be praying even more to get help and out of that horrible situation that they were in.

If I were sent to one of these camps I would be the exact opposite. I would have less faith in the beginning, but as times began to get tougher, I, myself would prayting day in and day out, because what else could I do? There is nothing to but pray I would think. I can’t imagine something I have not and hopefully will not experience and I can never say I know what you feel,, but I can think. I wouldn’t know how much my opinion would change now if I was actually experiencing it instead of writing about it in front of a computer screen. But I can’t blame you for your thoughts. You were mad at the time and couldn’t believe that if a God was so holy, why he would test you by sending you to concentration camps. I understand and can see how you formed your thoughts, but I would think that times like these, would test your faith and strengthen one’s belief in that religion.

After reading parts of your book and viewing you interview with Oprah, it is no question that you are a wise, intelligent man. Yet there is one thing in common that I see with both. Was seeing the death of so many children the part that still haunts you today? As you said, you were mad at God for burning innocent children, and in the interview you said “the death of one child makes no sense. The death of millions, what sense could it make” (Wiesel). It seems the senseless death of children can be seen in your thoughts. After watching the clip found on YouTube, it makes me think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-xm6nUbeXQ. Was this why you felt his way about God at that time? Was it the death of innocence children that caused your loss of faith? I don’t know because you are the only one who can answer, and that is why I am asking you.

Shelbee's 2nd post (POV of Elie Wiesel)

Dear journal,

Life here is still unbearable, but I'm getting more used to it. I continue to be treated more and more like a wild animal and not a human. I have been beaten for foolish and unfair reasons, tattooed with a number for identification and stripped of my clothes – not to mention my dignity. I have switched camps and my father is the only thing I have left.

People here still seek God for comfort and a reassurance because they truly believe that God has organized all of this as a test. I, on the other hand have been questioning whether or not I should still trust god or not. Everything I am going through now points to the fact that God is not helping me whatsoever; at this point I’m not even sure if He really exists. “…He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves. He kept six crematoria working day and night.” (Wiesel 67). The only good thing that “God” has provided me with is the company of my father during these gruesome times.

          At the beginning of my journey, even before I came to any concentration camp, I was sort of in denial. I refused to believe that my family and I would ever be taken away. This half ignorant-half optimistic attitude continued even still when families (including my own) were put under house arrest and even on our way to Auschwitz. However, now, as my story progresses I realize that things are only getting to get worse. I know that i have to do everything in my power to get myself out of this Hell, but being oblivious and thinking that nothing awful is never going to happen won't help me at all. Many people I know here have that mindset, but I do not. At times I believe that I will not make it out alive, but I know that I have to hang in there. One thing that is helping me survive this for some reason is the fact that i believe God is not out there controlling these horrid, torturous acts being committed by the SS officer. I am second-guessing all of my beliefs about God, and for some reason that soothes me. Throughout my journey here so far I have come across many delusional optimists, but I have hardened and become a realist. I try to accept and prepare myself for anything that may happen to me in the camp; I will do anything to survive.

-Elie

Nicole Mowry Post 2

Dear Weisel,
How did you do it? How could you endure the pain and suffering you did and still are? As I read more and more, your story becomes less hopeful and even more dreary.  One thing I don't understand is why you refuse your bowl of soup when you reach Auschwitz. You describe this moment as, "At about noon, we were brought some soup, one bowl of thick soup for each of us.  I was terribly hungry, yet I refused to touch it. I was still the spoiled child of long ago," (Wiesel 42).  I don't understand what you mean by this.  You are hungry but you won't eat because you are stubborn? I don't understand this.  Also in reference to soup, your critique on what the soup tastes like after witnessing two different hangings is baffling to me.  You say one night that it tastes better than ever before, but the next you say it tastes like corpses.  Could you mean, perhaps, that the night it tastes better it tastes that way because right before being murdered, the man professes his hate and says that he is cursing Germany, and is therefore hateful? The difference between this death and that of the younger boy in the second group of killing (with the other men) is that the young boy about to be killed does not say anything in protest or against the Germans.  He simply allows them to kill him.  Could your opinion on the soup be because he was a child? Or perhaps because he was silent while the others wished bad things upon Germany and said, "Long live liberty," (64). Does the fact that the young boy lived and had to suffer a little bit after the hanging have anything to do with it? Maybe I am not right with any of these assumptions and maybe I'm not seeing the deeper meaning behind this.
     During Rosh Hashanah, you do not fast, under your fathers wishes and under your own rebellious desires, and afterwards you say you feel, "...a great void opening," (69). After rebelling the fasting for Rosh Hashanah, the gap you feel is obviously because of your loosing religion.  Why do you continue to distrust and brush aside God when you feel such an emptiness within? Shouldn't you try to mend the hole and repair your relationship with Him?
     I have so many questions to ask you because of the great troubling times you went through and although it might seem like I am question your actions, the fact that you were able to stay strong for so long is unbelievable and truly admirable.

Caitlyn's Second Reflection

     Wow...that's all I can really say. I thought that the first section of the book detailed the horror. I didn't know that this could get any worse. First off, these people were dehumanized even more than before. Never mind the fact that they lost all their possessions, or they were made into slaves, but now they were even losing their names. Elie Wiesel recounts the time when he was tattooed with his new identification number. He said that he "became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name" (42). Names are the one thing that makes us individual. It was the only thing that the inmates-actually, prisoners-at Auschwitz had, and even that was taken away. The people were no longer people in the eyes of the SS officers.
     Wiesel, in his return to Auschwitz with Oprah, said that he did not hate the officers, did not hate what they had done to the over 11 million dead minorities. The officers are still human. They have families, siblings, and children. Yes, he is angry, but not at the SS officers. Wiesel has said that he is angry at himself, for not speaking out, for not standing up. It could have killed him, but then he would be one of the lucky ones. He would have died, and not have endured the pain and suffering.
     The second instance of the new horror does not happen to Wiesel, thankfully. This account tells of four hangings. The first hanging occurs after an air raid. The inmate stole something during the air raid, so he was condemned to death. Later on, Wiesel claims that he "remember[s] on that evening, the soup tasted better than ever..." (63). Yet, the next three hangings are more emotional. All three take place at the same time. This was the only time that Wiesel mentions people releasing emotions. A young boy was accused of sabotaging the electricity in a power plant. On that day, Wiesel questioned his faith. Also on that day, "the soup tasted of corpses" (65). Just these two similar, but different instances show the horror of the camps. People, even innocent children, were being hung for minor offenses. These people didn't deserve this.
     I can only imagine what the rest of the memoir holds, what other horrors will be unleashed from its pages. I can only hope that whatever happened, happened quickly enough that no pain was involved.
     I suggest that if you as a reader want to really experience the emotion of the camp, you should watch the video of Oprah's interview with Wiesel in Auschwitz. Here it is on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KugVjbq6Si8. The interview brings forth many good points, including some that have been mentioned here in this reflection. Wiesel's true thoughts are unleashed, right in the place where his life changed.

Ethan Lanciaux Second Post

Dear Ellie,

          The last time I saw you were still just a little boy. I'm sure if your reading this that you have grown much since then and endured a lot throughout your life. I hope that the war is over and that both you and your father are safe. I love you dearly. For me and your sister we are not so lucky. After we were separated earlier this morning, both me and Tzipora had met are end. I sit here on the verge of my own death and all that is going through my mind is you and your father. I hope and pray that you will sometime receive this message and when you do that times have changed and you have made it out of this place alive. I know that you are strong and will endure through to the end, helping your father who you love so dearly along the way. You must not be weakened by the thoughts of your sister and I, but rather strengthened. Have faith in your family and your religion. For it will carry you through to the end. No matter what they take away from you, don’t let them take away your faith and dignity. For once that is gone, you will have no more and you will be no more. What these horrible people are doing to our culture and religion is just obscene. Oh how I wish that losing my life would help you to survive, but I am not assured that it will. I hope and pray in my few last minutes on this earth that you will receive this letter someday in a better world than we are in now and a more peaceful one. I remember that last words that the officers spoke that tore us apart. He had said eight simple words, "Men to the left! Women to the right!"(p.29) Who would think that eight simple elementary words could be the end of us and could tear us apart at the middle. Sending you and your father to a place the equivalent of hell and me and Tzipora to our graves, the crematorium. The end is near; I don’t have much time so my last words to you are that I love you not only as your mother but as your family and your faith. Oh how I wish to give you my little strength I have left to help you survive, to help you escape to a better life to a world of peace and harmony. They are coming now so I must say my last goodbye. I love you Eliezer, and you must never forget that....

                                                                                                                                   Love, 

                                                                                                                                   Mom and Tzipora

Ethan Lanciaux first post.

Ellie Wiesel shows in the book Night that humans are evil and when they believe what they are doing is right they will stop at nothing to accomplish it. In the book, he uses his life story from the time he was a young boy growing up in Siget, to his troubles during the Holocaust when he was separated from all his family besides his father in the concentration camps. This book is very intriguing to me because it taught me about how awful the life of a Jew was during WWII. In the book, one line that really caught my attention was when Wiesel was going to tell his neighbor in the middle of the night that they were about to begin there "journey". When Wiesel's father returned from the meeting late that night, he told all the people there that they will be forced to journey away from there homes because the Hungarian police said that the front line was coming too close. The people in the town believed them at the time and began to pack food and hide there valuables which they were not allowed to take along. Wiesel's father tells him to go wake the neighbors and tell them what is happening. He then goes to the neighbor's house and wakes up the old man. After he tells him what is happening, the old man asks, "What are you saying? Get ready for the journey? What journey? Why? What is happening? Have you gone mad?" (p.15) The way this man responded with such confusion shows that the people were not aware at all of what was happening and that they didn't know they were going to leave. This is a form of dramatic irony because we as the reader know that they are being taking to a concentration camp where they most likely will be killed, but they believe they are going on a journey for there own safety. This shows the cruelty of Hitler and his followers because they told these people they were going to protect them but in turn sent them to their graves in the camps. Along with the cruelty of how Hitler tricked the people into going to the camps, his ways of choosing whether they live or die was also very inhumane. When Ellie and his family arrived at the Auschwitz, they were lined up with the men on the right and the woman, small children, elderly, and sick on the left. What they didn't know was that they were being chosen for who will live and who will be killed. This just shows the evil savage nature of Hitler and how he would stop at nothing to eliminate all the Jews. This website helped a lot with learning about what happened in the camps: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007714

Shelbee - Reflection #1

Elie Wiesel's description of his own accounts in Night make it clear to the reader that the events he endured were unfathomable, but could still happen to people who live today. At the beginning of Night, Elie Wiesel is a normal person and refuses to believe any rumors that he hears about Jews being tortured in other parts of Europe. In one specific situation early on in the story, both Elie Wiesel and the reader get a taste of what is going to happen later on in the Auschwitz concentration camps. Moishe the Beadle explains to Elie has experience in Auschwitz, "Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks. Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns." (Wiesel. 6) Although it was clearly a very graphic description of real events, it was hard for Wiesel to grasp, just like it would be for any other human. It wasn't until 1944 when Elie Wiesel and his family were uprooted to the Auschwitz concentration camps that Wiesel started to realize that the horrors were true. The oppressors treated the victims like animals and everyone knew it. The guards frequently acknowledged the victims with a superior attitude, mostly treating them like dirt. One guard made a harsh yet unnecessary threat, "Shut up, you moron, or I'll tear you to pieces! You should have hanged yourselves rather than come here." (Wiesel. 30) The only reason that millions and millions of people were treated so inhumanely was because they inherited such a minuscule difference from people who had power at the time. Although it seems as if the holocaust is far-fetched and could never happen again, an event just like it could easily re-occur because people are still ridiculed for their  irrelevant differences to this day.

Nicole's 1st Reflection

Wiesel's story is truly amazing. He manages to horrify and trap me into reading more at the same time. His remembrance of the terrible time is almost too gruesome to be true! The commentary he carries out for the duration of the book allows him to take advantage of literary tools, such as foreshadowing, that are often not taken advantage of in nonfiction writing.  While recalling his fathers passive view on the enforced rule of wearing the yellow star, Wiesel's comment made after the statement given by his father is reflective and gives the reader a feeling of doom. Wiesel recalls his father expressing his feelings as, "'The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal...' (Poor Father! Of what then did you die?)" (Wiesel 11). The comment he gives is foreshadowing at its best.  His comment is almost sarcastic in the way he reflects on his fathers words in a disappointing manner.  The events and changes within himself throughout the first 40 pages is very familiar to me.  Lord of the Flies anyone? The part that made me think of LOTF was when his father asked to go to the bathroom and was hit in the face in reply, and Wiesel did not feel much remorse.  It might not have been that he didn't feel remorse, but he was numb to all feelings, the short, possibly only 24 hours in the concentration camp being enough time to transform the young fifteen year old boy.  He talks a lot of time in the first 40 pages, especially when they get to the concentration camp. He does not remember how long it has been that he is in the camp, but it was most likely only one day.  His quick adaption to his surroundings is similar to the adaptions made by the boys on the island in Lord of the Flies.  Wiesel's acknowledgement of his quick adaption and change as a person is clear when he thinks, "I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames" (37).  The woman on the train shouting that she could see the fire is so eerie and terrifying.  At first, I did not see the double meaning of her words, the truth behind them that only she was able to see at the time.  It was when she exclaimed, "Jews, listen to me...I see a fire! I see flames, huge flames!" (25) that I was hit with the realization that, although she might have been 'mad' or 'crazy' her predictions were truthful.  This woman connects to LOTF because she reminds me of Percival, the first little boy that says that he has seen a beastie lurking in the shadows. They both manage to predict the force that is the cause of their danger.

Jordan Carroll 1st Reflection

In Wiesel’s book his text spoke to me personally. I never really learned or even knew much about the Holocaust at all before reading this book. I always heard it was bad and that they were put into camps for being Jewish. I also knew that Hitler blamed the Jews for causing WWI, but that was about it. After beginning to read his personal experience I am shocked at the horrific truth and what actually and sadly happened. There is no doubt how it strengthened my belief that it was a horrible event and I can now see why many people didn’t like to talk about. When he first describes in the beginning moving to ghettos he managed to shine the positives of being there. At one point he even considered it comforting and reassuring. However that is only the beginning of many horrible tragedies he unfortunately has to see. Even getting on the ride to Auschwitz was gruesome to hear. It was so inhumane, that you would think it was as story, yet it is actually a dark truth. He describes becoming trapped on cattle cars being crammed in with other people for three days. The worst part for me was when he arrived. When the prisoner said “You should have hanged yourselves rather than come here. Didn’t you know what was in store for you here in Auschwitz” (Wiesel 30) it sent chills through my bones. It showed how bad it was because they didn’t know what was actually in store for them so they must have been terrified when the man told them that because he never said what would happen to them. As they were walking he also saw another gruesome and inhumane thing. At one point he describes “A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes…children thrown into the flames” (Wiesel 32). This is just sad, poor innocent babies coming to an unfortunate death. They had a whole life and no knowledge of what was happening. Men did this for a job and never thought to question it and that is just sick. Before reading I thought it was bad, and after reading I know it was bad. Millions of people lost their lives for being blamed on something they possibly couldn’t do. It is horrible he had to see this, but he had to write about it because our generation has had nothing like it. He needed to honor the dead and he living as a reminder that this did happen and in a horrible way.

Caitlyn's 1st Reflection

Elie Wiesel's detailed account of his experience, even after all this time, shows many people today the horrors of the Holocaust and how people would let the abuse and terror happen. On the train ride to the concentration camp, Wiesel watched as one woman, Mrs. Schächter, went completely crazy on the ride. She claimed to see fire, and would scream about it. At one point, some people were fed up with the screaming, and they decided to beat her. Wiesel described the beating as "blows that could have been lethal" (Wiesel 26). The people that beat this poor old women were her former neighbors and friends, people she conversed with daily-now are some of the oppressors. Not as oppressive as the Hungarian police or the Germans were, but still oppressive nonetheless. Yet what was more horrifying than this abuse was going on, and no one tried to stop it or prevent it. Wiesel could be accused of this, as he watched many attacks. On one occasion, Wiesel watched his own father get beat after asking where the toilets were located. Wiesel questioned himself, asking "what had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent" (Wiesel 39). Wiesel, even though it has been a day, has changed from an innocent teenager to a hardened, emotionless man. This transformation definitely surprised me. I know that if I was put into that same situation, I would've spoken out against the violence. Maybe, in a sense, not speaking out saved Wiesel. If he spoke out he could have been beaten or killed. So, in reality, this horrible action actually saved his life. I myself could not have endured anything that Wiesel had went through. You have to give him credit, he's pretty tough. These events didn't bother him. Maybe they did, but it didn't show. It takes an incredible amount of strength to overcome the emotions he had, and he was able to overcome them. Wiesel is strong, physically and emotionally, and that most likely contributed to his survival.