Loss Of Identity In Night By Elie Wiesel

During the Holocaust many people lost everything, including belongings, family, friends, and even their lives. Even more people lost their identities. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie loses his identity because of the Germans. They took all of his possessions and his family. They even replaced his name with a number. In an analysis of the book Night it is stated, “ These prisoners have lost their human identity, they are mere creatures, all dressed alike in similar, strange clothing.” Elie and the other Jewish people lost their identity by losing their possessions, family, and who they were. The first thing the Germans took from the Jewish people was all their possessions. In the book one of the German officers told them, “‘Anyone who still owns gold, silver, or watches must hand them over now’” (Wiesel 24) That was not even the first thing that they took. Before that they took their houses and everything that the Jewish could not carry to the ghettos. After they got to the camps the Germans took their clothes and everything else that they still had.

The women were split up from the men. After Elie heard the words, “‘Men to the left! Women to the right!’” (Wiesel 29) he never saw his mother or little sister again. His two older sisters were also separated from him but they were reunited after the war. After the initial splitting up of Elie’s family he still had his father. They were almost split up several times as well through selection. Each time Elie was able to cause enough confusion that his father could switch sides. Others, however, were not so lucky. Many people’s family members were killed in the crematorium, resulting in more loss of