How The Holocaust Experiences In Elie Wiesel's Life Is Beautiful

In 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany. By 1945, he was responsible for over six million deaths. During the Holocaust, Jewish people were persecuted for their religion. They were forced to move to concentration camps where they were murdered or forced to do hard labor. Elie Wiesel was taken to the Auschwitz camp with his family when he was just fifteen years old. Although the rest of his family did not make it out of the camp, Elie was able to survive and later wrote a book about his experience. Night is a first hand account of what it was like to be an imprisoned Jew inside a concentration camp. Another example of a Holocaust experience is the film Life is Beautiful. In this film the directors Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni

Besides physical torture, Jews were forced to watch the horrific deaths of their fellow prisoners. The abuse they witnessed and received damaged the prisoners mentally. Only the strongest and mentally determined prisoners could survive through the concentration camps. During the first weeks of Elie’s experience at Auschwitz, he describes being picked for their jobs by saying, “… the Kapos appeared. Each one began to choose the men he liked: ‘You… you… you…’ They pointed their fingers, the way one might choose cattle, or merchandise” (Wiesel 49). In Life is Beautiful, Guido creates a game out of the concentration camp to hide the horrors from his son, Joshua. In both of these examples an emotional strain is being put on the characters. Elie is being stripped of all of his humanity during this experience. As he is being beaten and worn down physically, the emotional abuse also takes a toll on him. Likewise, in Life is Beautiful, Guido is emotionally drained because he has to shield Joshua from the murders and torture that happens right outside their barrack. Despite their emotional pain, both Elie and Guido persevere through the hardships in their concentration camps. They overcome the torture of the Nazis and are able to continue living in the harsh conditions. Perseverance becomes a main theme in both sources because it is the driving force behind the characters’ survival. The strong willpower that is illustrated through Elie and Guido set them apart from the other prisoners. Although very painful, the emotional challenges the characters go through show their strong ability to persevere through