Genocide In Elie Wiesel's Night

A genocide is not always obvious, it can happen slowly without anyone noticing. Niemöller once said, “They came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” In Night the Jews must unite together against the Nazi regime so that they can survive. Elie Wiesel has to stand up against the Nazi tyranny because if he doesn’t then he will face consequences, possibly death. Similarly, the terror group ISIS is carrying out a genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims in Syria. This is the type of genocide that people are letting happen, no one is doing anything against it, everyday minorities in Syria are being slaughtered. In Night, the Jews must unite

Studying a genocide is extremely important because it can help prevent future genocides. Elie describes the first step of the genocide as, “Countless Jews had been passing as non-Jews”(114). The first step of a genocide is classification, the Jews are classified as evil and bad people. This continues to such an extent that the Jews try to pretend to be non-Jews. The second step of a genocide is symbolization, this step is very dangerous because after this step a genocide can happen without anyone noticing or caring about the situation. Elie describes symbolization by saying, “Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star”(11). The Jews are divided between the Germans, so that every German acknowledges that Jews are different than Germans. This goes to show that hate against any minority should not be tolerated because it can lead to a violent genocide. This situation is similar to the modern-day genocide in

Secretary of state, John Kerry recently announced, “Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims” ISIS believes that they have the authority to kill anyone who disagrees with their theology, taking this authority into hand, ISIS murders the Yazidis, a group that follows the religion of Kurdistan, which is mixed with Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam. The Yazidis are being killed by ISIS because they have forces within them that are in combat with ISIS’s forces. The next group that ISIS commits a genocide on is the Christians, ISIS has murdered hundreds of Christians. The last main group that ISIS commits their genocide against is the Muslims, ISIS has killed over 20,000 Muslims since it has declared its caliphate. Kerry said, “We continue to engage with the government of Baghdad to make sure that its security forces and other institutions are more representative and inclusive.” Kerry acknowledges that we must unite with our allies in the Middle-Eastern world to stop this genocide, dividing will only lead to further conflicts. It is also very important to note that studying the holocaust is important, because we can see the patterns in the holocaust and how they lead to the genocide of the Jews,