Examples Of Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

Dehumanization is the process of stripping a person or group of their human qualities by denying their humanness. Night is a memoir written by Eliezer Wiesel, who in the memoir explains what he has to go through every step of the way to his freedom. He is one of the many Jews who are being dehumanized by the Nazis in multiple, cruel, and different ways. These ways include the Jews being poorly treated, being referred to as rats, being constantly beaten, having to work in poor conditions, and scapegoating the Jews. Eliezer and the other Jews do not deserve such punishments because they had committed no wrongdoing.
The dehumanization process used against Jews began even before they reached Auschwitz. Before the prisoners first arrived, they are on a train for multiple days with barely any food or water. Even after they arrive, they have to run and complete other tasks before they can be entitled to food. During Elie’s whole time at the concentration camps, he always has the same food, which is one ration of soup and bread. It is demonstrated by the text on page 43, “DAYS WENT BY. In the mornings: black coffee. At midday: soup. By the third day, I was eagerly eating any kind of soup ... At six o'clock in the afternoon: roll call. Followed by bread with something. At nine o'clock: bedtime.”

The Jews were always blamed for most problems in society by the Germans. For instance, Eliezer catches a Kapo sexually assaulting a female prisoner. Although it is not Eliezer’s fault for accidentally catching the Kapo, he is still whipped multiple times even though he did not deserve it. This most likely explains the reason why the Nazis have no sympathy for the Jews. The Nazis possibly viewed the Jews as “lazy good-for-nothings” because they “ruined” the Nazis' lives. Thus, scapegoating the Jews proves to be another way the Nazis dehumanize the Jews at the concentration