The Holocaust: Night by Elie Wiesel

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Six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The Jews were persecuted, tortured and slaughtered in concentration camps (“The Holocaust” 1). Night by Elie Wiesel is the powerful memoir of his experiences during the Holocaust. Night shows the tragedy of the Holocaust through the use literary devices, including the themes of loss of faith and cruelty toward other human beings, night as a symbol of suffering and fear, and the use of first person narrative. Night allows the reader to emotionally connect with the victims of the Holocaust, encourages them to never forget the injustice of the Holocaust, and implores the reader to ensure a travesty such as the Holocaust never occurs again. Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel grew up in a small Hasidic community in Sighet, Transylvania, which is now Romania. Wiesel pursued religious studies at a yeshiva during his childhood (“Elie Wiesel-Biography” 1). Nazi Germany invaded in 1994 and brought the town of Sighet into the Holocaust. The Jewish community was identified, had their property confiscated, and was ghettoized (“Elie Wiesel (American Author)” 1). The Germans forced the Jews residing in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania to move to concentration camps in Poland. At the age of fifteen, Wiesel and his whole family were deported to Auschwitz (“Elie Wiesel (American Author)” 1). Wiesel’s mother and sister were killed at the Auschwitz camp. Wiesel and his father were separated from the rest of their family and were sent to Buna-Monowitz, which was the slave labor sector of Auschwitz (“Elie Wiesel (American Author)” 1). Wiesel and his father lived in horrible, inhumane conditions in the camp. In January 1945, they were forced on a death march to Buchenwald, located in Germany, where h... ... middle of paper ... ...curred during the Holocaust to Wiesel and allows the reader to better understand the severe tragedy of World War II and the Holocaust. Works Cited "Elie Wiesel (American Author)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. . "Elie Wiesel Biography." Academy of Achievement.N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. . "Elie Wiesel-Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. . "The Holocaust." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. . Wiesel, Elie. Night. Trans. Marion Wiesel. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.

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