Inhumanity In Night By Elie Wiesel

Six million Jews died in the Holocaust. The Holocaust shattered Jewish communities across Europe. The book Night, by Elie Wiesel, is an autobiography of the author’s experiences in the Holocaust, particularly the brutality and inhumanity found in concentration camps. Throughout Night, the author emphasizes how the concentration camps affect prisoners not only physically, but also mentally.

The author expresses the theme of inhumanity at the beginning of the book. Eliezer Wiesel has heard stories from Moishe the Beadle about how brutal it is in the camps, but he is in denial about it. When Moshie returns from the concentration camp, the reader gets an idea of the inhumanity at the camps. As an example, “Without passion or haste, they shot their

When the Jews first arrived in Birkenau, the SS officers stripped the Jews of their identities. As an example: “Belt and shoes in hand, I let myself be dragged along to the barber.” Their clippers tore out our hair and shaved every hair on our bodies. My head was buzzing; the same thought surfaced repeatedly: not to be separated from my father" (35). Jews were stripped of everything by the SS officers; they are just bodies. The Jews are treated like livestock. The SS officers are often convicted criminals who are given power over the other prisoners. Jews are treated inhumanely throughout the book. Eliezer witnesses the agonizingly slow death of the Dutch Oberkapo’s pipel, a young boy hanged for collaborating against the Nazis. As an example, “Their tongues were hanging out, swollen, and bluish. But the third rope was still moving, and the child, who was too light, was still breathing. And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him closely. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished” (64). This shows the inhumanity of the camp. This is another example of the harsh treatment given to those who attempt to revolt against or sabotage the Nazi machine: weeks of torture and then death.

During the Nazi regime, the prisoners were treated like caged animals. When they are being transported to Buchenwald, they pass by some German workers who have tossed a piece of bread into the cargo cart. The Jews start fighting over it because they are so hungry, and the workers just watch over them for entertainment. For example, “Men were hurling themselves against each other, trampling, tearing at, and mauling each other. Beasts of prey were unleashed—animals with hatred in their eyes. There was extraordinary energy in them, sharpening their teeth and nails. A crowd of workmen and curious passers-by had formed all along the train. They had undoubtedly never seen a train with this kind of cargo” (101). This shows how desperate they are for food because they fight like animals to get some just to survive. They treat the Jews like animals, amusing themselves by putting the desperate, starving, dying Jews against each other. The final way the Jews are dehumanized in the book Night is through death. As Eliezer's father died, he is only seen as a dead body. When he passes away, they have nothing to honor or remember him by; they just dispose of him and continue dealing with more bodies. For example, “No prayers were said at his tomb. No candle was lit in his memory. His last word was