Have you ever woken up not knowing if you will live to wake up again? Elie Wiesel suffered many afflictions during his time held captive in German concentration camps, from being dehumanized to starved, his experiences changed his entire life. His autobiography, Night, portrays his horrific struggles during World War II. Elie Wiesel certainly deserves his biography; out of the millions who were sent to these terrible death camps, he not only survived, but went on to inspire millions as an author, philosopher, and public speaker.
Elie was a religious fifteen year old boy living in Sighet, but when his town was overtaken by the Germans, his life turned upside down. His friends, family, and community were put on cattle wagons and sent to
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The injury would require him to get surgery. The surgery wouldn’t allow him to work for a few weeks. Before Elie was recovered Auschwitz was attacked which left Elie and his father with two choices: stay in the camp hospital or run with the other prisoners to a new camp. They made the wrong decision, choosing to run with everyone for miles in the snow. Blood stains were in Elie’s footprints from his foot, which was numb. The slow and weak were shot by SS officers. The Jews who stayed in the hospital were freed three days after everyone ran away from the camp. Their choice had death approaching them. They almost froze to death in the cold winter snow when running to reach the train for Buchenwald. During the journey, many died due to frigid temperatures or starvation, so there were frequent stops to toss out the dead. Passing through German towns, people walking by threw bread into the train to watch the Jews savage for a tiny crumb of bread, and some fights resulted in death for one. They finally arrived in Buchenwald after treacherous days of suffering. They started the journey with one hundred men, but only twelve managed to survive the journey. Elie’s sick father was on his death bed when they evacuated the train, he said to Elie: “I can’t go on…. This is the end….I’m going to die here….” (100). Elie had managed to get him to a bed, but after a short number of days he died of dysentery. It was April tenth when Elie’s life was saved. Americans overran the SS officers, setting all the workers free. On April eleventh, Elie left Buchenwald a changed man. From that day on Elie Wiesel was a free man; who had overcome the life changing experience of life in a concentration