Elie Wiesel states “For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences. ” The holocaust was the discrimination against the Jews from separation from their families to persecution to murder. This event happened during World War 2 around 1933 to 1945, in western Asia. Hitler believed the Jews were the cause of all Germany’s problems and felt superior to them. My Holocaust sources will be coming from Night, Auschwitz Death Camp, “To the little Polish boy” and “First they came for the Communists”.
These texts made to me a reality of what may have seemed a ream. For any sane persons knowledge, such cruelty would be impossible for humans to inflict. One imperative theme of Night involves fear. In the book Night, fear is overwhelming. On page 51, Wiesel says, “Bite your lip, little brother. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, for later on. The day will come, but not now.. Wait. Grit your teeth and wait”. Elie wants to do something, he wants to get his revenge for those who have killed their humanity. This shows Eliezer’s rage because he knows that he’s powerless.
One person taking action is suicide; e needs to grit his teeth and wait. Regardless to say Elie does get his revenge. On page 107, Elie states, “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me any more. ” It did not matter whether the Germans lost the war or if the world were to end, Elie’s state was irreversible. Nothing could give him his family back, after his father there was no point in living anymore. Rev. Martin Niemoller wrote “First they came for the Communists”. The poem explains how a person like Niemoller saw all the Nazis taking people away, but didn’t do anything about it; until it was too late.
By then everybody had been taken away including him. Martin uses the element of parallelism. In the poem you can see the structure of “Then they came for” in the beginning of every sentence. It conveys meaning by stating how the Nazis kept taking people, but wasn’t stopped. I like it because it’s realistic. Many people didn’t have the guts or disliked the people that the Nazis were taking, but they didn’t realize they would be next. For example, in the last sentence in the poem Niemoller says “Then they came for the Protestants, for me. Then there was no one to speak up”.
I would recommend this to readers interested in the Holocaust or like realism. Auschwitz Death Camp and Night by Elie Wiesel are similar because they both focus on how good the Nazis were at killing people. In the Auschwitz Death Camp documentary Oprah and Elie look at the children’s shoes and clothes at the museum to talk about whom the clothing could have belonged to and imagined their deaths. The Germans used fire pits, gas chambers, concentration camps and other horrific methods showing how ruthless, but smart and efficient they were at removing people from this world.
Night is similar because Elie tells us about the fire pits, gas chambers and other methods from a primary source. Elie states “Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing. And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished”.
The Nazis were trying to break their prisoners will and spirit by manipulating them through fear. By describing how the Nazis annihilated the Jews, Auschwitz Death Camp and Night show how good they were killing people. “To the little Polish boy” by Peter Fischl is different from Night by Elie Wiesel through realism. In “To the little Polish boy”, Peter uses the boy to conjure protective and paternal like feelings from the readers to draw up strong emotions. And of course, who wouldn’t feel emotional from reading about a boy with many machine guns pointed at him.
Through the use of repetition the author creates strong imagery and a bond between the audience and the boy. Night differs in actuality because Elie experienced it and wrote it. Wiesel writes “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. ” Elie as one might say died that night. He wrote his pain and released it into the world. With Elie describing his experience and Fischl showing us how most victims were innocent “To the little Polish boy” and Night show us that something as horrific as the Holocaust must never be allowed to happen again.
The action in the ghetto of Rohatyn by Alexander Kimel is a poem in which Kimel wants to forget his memories from the events he witnessed during the holocaust, but can’t. He explains how people reacted as it happened. And that he has to remember to never let us forget. Kimel creates parallelism. He repeatedly says “No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget? ” everywhere through out the poem. After everything he’s seen there is no way one could forget the brutality of man. I like the poem because it explains the victims pain, including himself so vividly.
Kimel states “Do I want to remember, the creation of hell? The shouts of the Raiders, enjoying the hunt. Cries of the wounded, begging for life. Faces of mothers carved with pain. Hiding Children, dripping with fear”. This poem I think could be for anyone, since it answers so many questions. The most important thing the holocaust taught me is that we must honor the dead. Elie Wiesel states “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed..
Never shall I forget hose moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never”. This poem is heartbreaking; it sums up Elie’s stay in captivity that relinquished his life. He was I want to say unlucky, but mostly I think it was his destiny. If it wasn’t for Elie there wouldn’t be a book called Night, the world would still be blind, and we probably would have forgotten about the dead. As Elie Wiesel said “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time”.
We must honor them for their impact on the world. And l’m not just talking about the holocaust victims. I’m talking about everyone, especially those who have given their lives to defend their nation, that have sacrificed themselves knowing they could die. We must honor them for they are braver than we could fathom. As you can see it wasn’t only the Jews that were treated less than human beings and murdered; it was anyone who got in Germany’s way. Out of all the things that I learned about the holocaust, standing up for what’s right is the most important takeaway.
In real life there are people that act like a Nazi. They treat human like lesser beings; thinking they’re superior. Like in “First they came for the communists” the author didn’t stand up to the wrong and he paid for it. I will always remember Juliek from the book. How Elie described him as pouring his soul into the music then next thing you know death. I can’t imagine who would do such a thing, trampling him shows pure evil. I say we must stand up for what’s right and never let others be treated lesser than they are because you are exactly like them too.