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.