Holocaust Video

This video shows the harsh conditions the Jews faced while going through the Holocaust. Major areas to watch are at 3:52 - 4:40 and 6:12 - 9:55, but all is a great representation of the Holocaust. (Viewer discretion is advised.)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?...)

Poem

Hitler caused so much grief for the Jews. He destroyed their morale and many lives. This poem, created by Shawn T, represents the hardships that the Jews went through. It explains the terrible life that the Jews lived during the Holocaust.



Hitler came and took it all.
Hitler came and told them to beat us.
Hitler came and turned them against us.
He said it was the final solution.
They came and took us away, they said it was just orders.
Hitler put us in Auschwitz and
mommy said it would be OK.


Mommy said we were going to the ghetto but I still saw people dying.
Mommy said it was going to be just fine.
Mommy said we will make a fire but I was still freezing cold.
Mommy said the Russians were coming soon.
Now mommy is dead.


I have waited a long time but they are not here
I can hear the guns in the distance but they are not coming.
I want to know when they are coming.
"What is that? They're here."


Now I am back home but I can't stay.
Someone told me about Palestine.
Now I am there with thousands of Jews and
I have a family again.
And I tell myself it'll be OK.

Blocks

Every day, the inmates were required to line up for roll call before they went on to work. They were all numbered and some camps didn't even have the luxury of having the same clothing. No matter where they went, they were always in blocks.

"'Fall in!' We fell into ranks of five" (Wiesel 49).

(http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/camp_inmates.jpg)

Faith

Many of the people condemned to these concentration camps began to question their God.

"Man comes closer to God through the question he asks Him. Therein lies true dialogue. Man asks and God replies. But we don't understand His replies. We cannot understand them. Because they dwell in the depths of our souls and remain there until we die. The real answers you will find only within yourself" (Wiesel 5).

Throughout the Holocaust, many lost their faith. They were questioning why God would allow such things to happen and why he hasn't helped them to get out of this horrible situation.

"Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mas graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death?" (Wiesel 67).

The facts were stacking up against everyone's beliefs. Elizer stopped his devotion to God because he couldn't believe that He could let such things be happening all the time. Others continued to pray, and some were still questioning Him. Elizer had the occasional prayer, despite denouncing God.

Starvation

This is what many of the inmates looked like during the Holocaust. They were all crammed into bunks and weren't given very many clothes to protect them from the elements. Those who survived didn't look anything like they did to begin with.

"I had not seen myself since the ghetto. 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" (Wiesel 115).

(http://www.google.com/imgres?...)

Transformation

Throughout the experience in the concentration camps, many were forced to transform from children to adults, no matter what age you were. The conditions were so horrible that it's so difficult to explain how it truly was. Some had transformed without knowing it.

"Then, as if waking from a deep sleep, he slapped my father with such force that he fell down and then crawled back to his place on all fours.
I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked" (Wiesel 39).

Elizer's experiences changed everything about his life. This transformation was not, by any means, the best way to move from childhood to manhood. Transforming because of a tragic event can cause a major change in someone's personality and lifestyle, such as those who lived through the Nazi Holocaust.

"I shall not describe my life during that period. It no longer mattered. Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore" (Wiesel 113). "Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That's all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread" (Wiesel 115).

Many of the inmates were starved so bad that nothing but food mattered to them. They forgot about their past and being free was their future. They would never be the same.

Soup

This is typically what the inmates' rations of food looked like. Many weren't even lucky enough to get this size or ration or even one at all. This was their life, their everything.

"At that moment in time, all that mattered to me was my daily bowl of soup, my crust of stale bread. The bread, the soup -- those were my entire life." (Wiesel 52)

(http://www.google.com/imgres...)

Trust

It was always a battle whether to trust the soldiers that did all of the commanding.

"Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. In a few moments, selection will take place. You will have to undress completely. Then you will go, one by one, before the SS doctors. I hope you will all pass. But you must try to increase your chances. Before you go into the next room, try to move your limbs, give yourself some color. Don't walk slowly, run! Run as if you had the devil at your heels! Don't look at the SS. Run, straight in front of you!" (Wiesel 71).

This is one of the events where they were unsure whether to trust him or not. This process seemed to help increase their chances and made them seem like someone to trust. But other times, people doubted their trust. Not only did they distrust the soldiers, but even began to distrust the other inmates as well.

"Don't rejoice too soon, son. Here too there is selection. In fact, more often than outside. Germany has no need of sick Jews. Germany has no need of me. When the next transport arrives, you'll have a new neighbor. Therefore, listen to me: leave the infirmary before the next selection!" (Wiesel 78).

Many people were too frightened by the whole experience to know whether they should trust someone or not. Many just went with what anyone said and didn't take the time to think about it.

Infirmary

Here's a photo of an injured inmate of one of the concentration camps. Many of these people didn't make it out alive, or at least with all their limbs. Elizer was lucky in that he was able to get out before anyone could destroy the camp he was injured in. But, as he found out later, the camp was liberated.

"After the war, I learned the fate of those who had remained at the infirmary. They were, quite simply, liberated by the Russians, two days after the evacuation." (Wiesel 82)

 (http://www.google.com/imgres?...)

Luck

There are many places in this story where luck has been a key factor. This doesn't only mean good luck, though. Looking at the story as a whole, it was very bad luck for anyone to have been through this in the first place. But while going through the camps, some were granted some lucky selection. "'You are lucky, little fellow,' said Hans, smiling. 'You fell into a good Kommando...'" (Wiesel 50). Elizer also tried pushing his luck by pretending to be sick (Wiesel 52). In this part, he used it to keep his gold crown, but was eventually required to remove it.

Along with some good luck, he also found some bad luck. In the middle of January, his foot swelled up and surgery was needed or he would lose it (Wiesel 78). Despite the surgery, he was treated much better than the rest. There were also times where him and his dad would be separated, but he was mostly lucky enough to pull him through until the end (Wiesel 96, 99, 105). Many inmates weren't as lucky as Elizer in these events. Many died every day from lack of food and others gave up because of the conditions. If only everyone survived through this event; if only they were as lucky as Elizer.

Introduction

Night by Elie Wiesel

Prior to reading this book, I've taken classes that discussed the Holocaust. I know all about Hitler and what he did to the Jews. Hitler set up many concentration camps and moved all the Jews into these camps to create a session of racial cleansing. I have seen many videos on his speeches and I have seen pictures of the concentration camps themselves.

This book adds to my knowledge of the Holocaust, along with more knowledge of what it was like to live in one of the concentration camps. I have never been exposed to what it felt like to actually be living through one of these camps, and this book gives a great insight into what the camps were all about. In the pre-read, the author was right: there is not enough words in the world to describe what it was like.