The Holocaust was a time of suffering for millions of people in Europe. However, no group suffered more than the Jewish people. Elie Wiesel’s Night documents the suffering of himself and the people around him during their time in Nazi camps. Wiesel, throughout the book, describes his own life from his life in Sighet to after he is freed. He is living a relatively normal life, until the threat of the Nazis comes about. The Nazis enter his town and take the citizens to a ghetto, then to Birkenau. From there, he, along with hundreds more, is transported to Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp in Poland. Elie is then forced to march to another camp called Buchenwald, where they are soon liberated a few months after arrival. While in Nazi custody, …show more content…
At the end of the book, when Camp Buchenwald is liberated by the American army, it is shown how badly Elie and the rest of the population’s physical health is. This happened because they are all mechanized by the Nazis to make them subservient and take away any hope of living as they please. The train ride to Birkenau harms everyone’s emotional health as they lose all feeling of compassion for one another aboard the train ride. This is caused by treatment similar to that of animals being sent to a slaughter house. Finally, we see how dehumanization affects an individual’s mental state, specifically in Moishe the Beadle. His deteriorated mental condition is a result of the dehumanization and blood curdling atrocities he witnesses under Nazi custody. Throughout the holocaust, the Nazis use the strategy of dehumanization to break the Jewish spirit and rob people of their humanity. In this way, Elie Wiesel’s novel serves as a way to remember the struggles the Jewish community went through as the Nazis try to turn them into something less than human. By being able to understand the true consequences of dehumanization during the holocaust, it is possible to appreciate the importance of treating people like how they should be treated, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Wiesel’s testimony in his book Night serves as a reminder of the lasting effects of dehumanization, and that people in modern society are now responsible to prevent