Comparing The Holocaust In Night And The Devil's Arithmetic

“Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who stop to consider the antithesis; that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable,” a quote by Primo Levi, an Italian Holocaust survivor. The Holocaust was a tragic event that happened during World War II, during which over 11 million people were killed, 6 million of which consisted of Jews. The book I read, The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, is a historical fantasy about the Holocaust where a girl named Hannah gets sent back in time to the Holocaust and must endure the horrors of the concentration camps.

The book The Devil’s Arithmetic connected to Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night as well as told me more about the plans to Jews had to

In both books, the main character witnesses the loss of someone close to them, whether it is friends or family. In The Devil’s Arithmetic, as they are in the concentration camps, Hannah witnesses the woman that his uncle is going to marry die on the ground. On page 153, it says, “He bent down and kissed the top of her head as the guns roared, a loud volley that drowned out birdsong and wind and screams. When it was silent at last, the commandant threw the shoes on top of Fayge's body. ‘Let them all go up the stack,’ he said. ‘Call the Kommandos. Schnell!’” In Night, Elie loses both his mother and sister Tzipora towards the beginning of his experience and his father towards the very end. He loses his mother and sister , on page 29, “And I walked on with my father, with the men. I didn't know that this was the moment in time and the place where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever.” Elie

Greek Jews who were sent to concentration camps were identified with a G that was included in the identification number on their arm. Greek Jews would disappear from the camps rather quickly, as they don’t speak Yiddish or German and can’t act quick enough on commands given to them. This information is shown on page 115 where it says, “ ‘Never stand next to someone with a G in her number. She is a Greek— and Greeks do not speak Yiddish and do not understand German. Greek Jews disappear quickly.’... ‘They become . . . gone,’ Rivka answered. ‘Because they do not understand commands fast enough, they do not react fast enough. Anyone standing next to them may be gone with them, sent off to Lilith's Cave alongside a Greek ... " Another piece of information that I learned was that the prisoners would sometimes hide the children in the dumpster to make sure that they don’t get sent away, as the Commandant isn’t supposed to allow children under the age of fourteen in the camps. This is shown on page 116, where it Rivka says, “ ‘But the most important thing for you to know is the midden," Rivka said. "The garbage dump?’ Shifre and Hannah asked together. ‘Yes. Commandant Breuer is not supposed to allow children under fourteen in the camp. So whenever he comes to inspect things, the children have to disappear. What he does not see does not exist. The best hiding place is in the