Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example

The Holocaust cast a shadow over everyone who was affected by the tragedy in any form. Night, a memoir by Elie Wiesel, is set in 1941, when he is just 15 years old, Elie Wiesel recounts his experiences as a young Jewish child during the Holocaust in his memoir Night. The Jews in concentration camps, where they are subjected to the most heinous types of torture, abuse, and cruel treatment imaginable. Torture has obvious bodily consequences, but it also has psychological consequences for those who are unlucky enough to be subjected to it. Jews suffer and endure the traumatizing effects of dehumanization by extreme starvation, going through callus brutality, and enduring forced labor. 

Starvation was a common kind of dehumanization for Jews because it was such a simple and easy way of torture. When Elie and the other prisoners in the concentration camps are denied food or water, they begin to starve like any other human being would. The difference between humans today and the Jews back then is that eventually the humans would be fed properly, the Jews haven’t been fed in so long that they don't even remember the last time they had a full meal. If just half the calories of a typical person can generate heinous symptoms, imagine the mental damage inflicted on the Jews when they didn't consume any calories at all. Hunger has devastating impacts on both the mental and physical circumstances of individuals, transforming them from sensible beings into vicious beasts. “We stayed at gleiwitz for three days. Three days without food or drink.” (Wiesel 91) Elie is taken back when he is transferred to a concentration camp for a short period of time and is given nothing to eat or drink, leading him to starve. Since the Nazis treated everyone so wonderfully, everyone expected good treatment. The last good treatment they received was back home in Sight. “We went to fetch the evening meal:bread and margarine. I was terribly hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot” (Wiesel 44) They were so dehydrated and hungry, that Elie and the other Jews practically swallowed their food whole. The only food they would get is bread and margarine and not in big portions, 1 ration is nowhere near enough to properly satisfy a human of their needs, The Jews wouldn’t only have to go through starvation, they would also have to endure pain in every way imaginable every single day at the camps. 

Along with extreme hunger, the Jews would have to go through agonizing physical, mental, and emotional pain everyday without a break. Physical abuse in concentration camps resulted in a sort of trauma that had a long-term impact on those who were imprisoned. For a variety of circumstances, the victim would often be blamed for not doing something they were assigned to do. This might include lack of job or simply because an authority figure was enraged.“Faster, you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs!” Why not? Moving fast made us a little warmer. The blood flowed more readily in our veins. We had the feeling of being alive . . . “Faster, you filthy dogs!” (Wiesel, 85) The Jews were forced to run in the middle of the street, at night, and in the freezing temperatures. They barely had any clothing on them and ran barefoot on the hard concrete. If any of them started to slow down, or was caught at the very back of the line, they would immediately be shot dead with a warning. This is what motivated the rest of the Jews to keep running and not to slow down too much. Elie felt the feeling of actually being alive from all this aggressive running which proves how dead they were in all types of ways. No human should have to fear for their life in the ways the Jews did, no one should go through all that trauma. Majority of this physical harm came from Jews not doing what they were told, or when they would perform their job incorrectly resulting in upsetting the SS soldiers. 

Finally the last form of dehumanization was forced labor in the camps. The Nazis, SS commanders, and Kappos had the purpose of overworking the captives to death, as well as various types of extermination if the Jews were off duty. For the captives of Auschwitz, labor was a major concern. Throughout their stay at Auschwitz, many inmates thought that their only options were to commit suicide or labor until they died in the camp. “Suddenly he calmed down. As if nothing had happened, he sent me back to work.” (Wiesel 50) For no apparent reason, one of the Nazi soldiers thrashed Elie until he was drenched in blood. Then, as if nothing had occurred, Elie was sent back to work. Even though he was in excruciating agony, he was obliged to work just as hard as before. This treatment shows how the Jews were forced to do unwanted labor work or else they would be terribly beaten or even killed. Because of this insane treatment, Jews had to live in everlasting fear no matter what they did. 

Although the Nazis would argue otherwise, the Jews were subjected to a great deal of dehumanization, including forced labor, malnutrition, and physical agony. Even in Auschwitz, individuals were unable to live a normal life due to the impact of dehumanization of the captives. Many people were executed as a result of the Holocaust for a variety of causes, yet they all went through the same ordeals. The Jews will to live deteriorates as a result of their loss of identity, cruel treatment, and humiliation. No one can stand up to the Nazis' profoundly horrific dehumanization of the Jews, no matter how courageous one may have been. While numerous factors contributed to the Jews' suffering, dehumanization was by far the cruelest treatment they received throughout World War II. The pain was so traumatizing, there was a point where the Jews would mentally wish to kill themselves every day. The fact that these innocent people had to go through so much and do countless inhumane acts just to stay alive really opens a new perspective into how lucky today’s society really is. Children learn about the Holocaust in school repetitively so society makes sure a traumatic incident like the Holocaust never occurs in the future. People will be able to avoid and prevent dehumanization in the future if they acknowledge how it occurs. The act of dehumanization should never be executed, nor should it be thought of one bit. No one on earth deserves to endure the disturbing events they endured throughout their time they were in the camps. Absolutely no one.