Over 6 million people of the Jewish faith were killed during the Holocaust. An estimated 600,000 survived the concentration camps. Many people don’t understand how concentration camps affected one psychologically or spiritually. There are many authors that wrote about their experiences during the Holocaust and its effect on them. Two authors that show how the Holocaust effected them spiritually are Viktor Frankl and Elie Wiesel. Both authors show a very different way of the Holocaust’s effect on their spiritual life and their religious beliefs.
In A Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, the reader can see the spiritual relationship that Frankl has with God and how much of a support that relationship is to Frankl. To get through the Holocaust
…show more content…
But unlike Frankl, Weisel started taking his anger out on God for allowing such a horrible thing to happen to God’s people. “Yes, man is very strong, greater than God. When You were deceived by Adam and Eve, You drove them out of Paradise. When Noah’s generation displeased You, You brought down the Flood. When Sodom no longer found favor in Your eyes, You made the sky rain down fire and sulphur.” This mindset truly shows Weisel’s distrust in God as time went on in the concentration camp.
Weisel continues on to say: “But these men here; whom You have betrayed, whom You have allowed to be tortured, butchered, gassed, burned, what do they do? They pray for You! They praise Your name!” This passage shows the frustration that Weisel has towards God for forsaking him to such a horrible place, when God could easily fix such a problem if He was truly the omnipotent God.
Wiesel’s stray from religion is an important contrast from Frankl’s strong grasp on religion. These two different mindsets during the Holocaust is an important fact to focus on, as it can be related to today. During times of trials and strife, some people grasp onto God and religion. Having religion keeping them strong and moving forward, while others will blame God and remove themselves from their religion as they feel that God could easily fix such a