Theme Of Dehumanization In The Book Night

Dehumanization of Jews

Anti-Semitism has existed in Europe for many centuries but Hitler enhanced anti-Semitism during his dictatorship of Germany. Anti-Semitism, a form of Jewish racism came into action with Hitler’s support of nationalism in Germany. It changed the way the Germans saw Jewish people. The theme “how we see things” demonstrates itself through the contrast of perspective between the Nazis and their Jewish captives. Henry David Thoreau quotes that “the question is not what you look at, but what you see” which explains that different people see different things from the image of the same thing. During the Holocaust, Elie forcefully experienced famine, risk of death, and fear. The Nazis dehumanize the Jews with various attempts to rob their opinions, identity, and freedom.

In the autobiographical memoir Night, Elie Wiesel explains how the Nazis dehumanize the

Upon entry to Birkenau, a guard instructs the men and women to go in separate areas. Elie realizes that this would cause him to leave “...my mother and Tzipora forever”(Wiesel 29). This lifelong bond has existed since the day that Elie was born. To take this bond away would mean taking away a piece of his identity, something that stems from his experiences in life. Elie becomes abnormal compared to other humans because of the hole in his identity. The Nazis also dehumanize the Jews by labeling them with numbers. The Nazis marked Elie as A-7713 and “from then on...had no other name”(Wiesel 42). People address you by your name throughout your entire life. If a number suddenly replaces your name, it would result in a confusion of identity. Since people have a solid grasp of who they are, a confusion of identity would make Elie and the other Jews different from humans. Therefore, the dehumanization of Jews was due to their loss of identity from bonds and