On January 30th, 1933, one of the most deadliest and dangerous genocides had begun, the Holocaust. Approximately 6 million Jews lost their lives in the concentration camps. A well known survivor from the Holocaust is Elie Wiesel. He was put in a concentration camp at the age of 15 and died recently in 2016. In his memoir, Night, Elie demonstrates a remarkable amount of stamina when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles by not giving up his chance to live and caring for others. To start off, by showing affection for loved ones and encouraging others to keep fighting, Elie displays an enormous amount of mental stamina when presented with extreme conditions throughout his life. Elie observes, “Lately, he had been wandering among us, …show more content…
A quote that supports this is, “Where are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance…” (Wiesel, 66). Elie starts to feel that God is no longer there for him at the concentration camp. Individuals may think this does not indicate spiritual stamina because he is questioning his religion because of what he is living through. Elie describes, “Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? … Because in his great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death…” (Wiesel, 67). Elie acknowledges that he no longer wants to believe in God because he concluded that God is the reason that the Jews are in the circumstance they are in. This is another reason individuals might think Elie is showing lack of spiritual stamina during the Holocaust because Elie begins to consider why he should believe in God when He has created such terrible things throughout the world. On the other hand, Wiesel explains, “And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in …show more content…
As fellow Jews at the camps started to give up, Elie encouraged them that there were things to live for and that they would survive the Holocaust, notwithstanding when the chances were slim. When his dad was sick, Elie cared for him such as giving him water even when he wasn’t supposed to, hoping that his father would survive. Even in the hardest conditions and labor Elie was put through, he never lost hope and kept on fighting until liberation. Wiesel also prays to God with hope that there will be a life for him, his friends, and family after the Holocaust. To conclude, Elie has proven to be mentally strong after confronted with unrealistic situations throughout the harsh era of the
Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel has gone through thick and thin. Wiesel is a noted Holocaust survivor. He, at the time, was only 15 when he was taken away from his little Jewish community. While he was in concentration camps, many family members were killed. Despite all the horrific events that he faced, Wiesel was rescued and brought to safety.
About one-third of all Jewish people in the world were murdered during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel was not apart of that appalling statistic and credits luck for his survival, although his experiences were no less tragic. Elie Wiesel himself writes that he is not sure how or why he survived however, went on to accomplish many things with the chance he was given in honor of those who lost their lives. Wiesel was able to write novels, create his own foundation and receive awards during his time on Earth. Amy Ray once said,“It's important to have a voice; it's more important to use it.”
In the book Night, we the readers witness the hardships and struggles in Elie’s life during the traumatic holocaust. The events that take place in this story are unbearable and are thought to be demented in modern times. In the beginning Elie is shown as a normal teenage Jewish boy, but the events are so drastic that we the readers forget how he was like in the beginning. Changes were made to Elie during the book, whether they were minor or major. The changes generated from himself, the journey, and other people.
Elie survived the Holocaust in Germany during the 1940’s. At only 12 years old, Elie survived where over 6 million other members of the Jewish faith perished. To Mr. Weisel, inhumanity comes from only the most evil of people, the darkest that inhabit this world. He lived through death on a daily basis, watching friends and family die every day, all because of their religion. After all of this tragedy in his life, Elie refused to give up and be miserable; he took action and created awareness by writing a book.
He is fighting to keep his father alive, angered by the lack of desire to live. Elie’s father is suffering from dysentery, too weak to move from his cot. “For a ration of bread, I was able to exchange cots to be next to my father.” Elie has taken measures to comfort his ill-stricken father, even trading much needed food to be nearer to him. As Elie’s father begins to become more incapacitated, Elie takes the responsibility of keeping both their spirits up and keeping him
In this book Elie speaks of his hardships and how he survived the concentration camps. Elie quickly changed into a sorrowful person, but despite that he was determined to stay alive no matter the cost. For instance, during the death
The adversities at Auschwitz and Buchenwald caused Elie to lose faith in God. Before being transported into Auschwitz, Elie was a boy who deeply believed in God and had absolute faith in God. Elie 's first seeds of doubt in God came when he was transported into the camp and separated from his mother and sister. The other prisoners began reciting the Kaddish, but Elie got agitated when they gave thanks to God, “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me.
Empathy; the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. An admirable trait, it often coincides with one's resilience. In Elie Wiesel’s Night, he recounts his experiences as a young man during the Holocaust. It is a journey of suffering and survival, where the true devastation of the Holocaust is brought to light. Elies great empathy for his father shaped his resilience which allowed him to survive.
Imagine being a young 15 year old boy barely fed, dehydrated and at a camp that was created for the purpose of killing thousands of people and immediately once you arrive losing your mother and sister. Elie shows extreme mental strength during this event, rather than trying to stop it from happening
Wiesel changes vastly throughout the book, whether it is his faith in God, his faith in living, or even the way his mind works. In the beginning of his memoir, Wiesel appeared to be faithful to God and the Jewish religion, but during his time in concentration camps, his faith in God wavered tremendously. Before his life was corrupted, he would praise God even when he was being transferred to Auschwitz, but after living in concentration camps, he began to feel rebellious against his own religion. In the book, Elie
Belief and Faith is a “double-edged sword” to the jews, it cuts both ways. It keeps them alive, and at the same time makes them oblivious, and leads to their suffering. Over time, Elie’s belief in god, diminishes and eventually he questions God’s existence extensively and at point, Elie is infuriated that even though they are being tormented and enslaved, the Jews will still pray to god, and thank him, “If god did exist, why would he let u go through all the pain and suffering (33). This is a major point in the ongoing theme of faith and belief, because for once he is infuriated with the thought of religion in a time of suffering. Throughout the book, with the nazis ultimate goal is to break the jews and make dehumanize them and if anything, their goal is take and diminish their belief.
“I ran off to look for my father. And at the same time I was afraid of having to wish him a Happy New Year when I no longer believed in it,” (Wiesel, 75). Earlier, Elie talks about how he felt powerful and stronger than God himself, now that he was free from the Almighty. He also talks about how he felt alone but strong. Later, he shows retaliation against God.
As for me, I had ceased to pray... I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice” (45). It is apparent here that the effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish people’s faith was delayed on some level. Elie refuses to pray to the God that apparently abandoned him. This is personified when he says he doubts that God has absolute justice.
Elie was held captive in concentration camps from 1944-1945. During his time in the concentration camps, he became grateful for what he had, overcame countless obstacles, and more importantly kept fighting until he was free. [The Holocaust is very important to learn about because it can teach you some important life lessons.] You should always be grateful for what you have, no matter what the circumstances are. This lesson can be learned when Elie says, “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me any more”(109).
Imagine believing so strongly in something and then being let down, or thinking that you were wrong even to believe. In Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie felt as though he had lost his religion and belief in God. We learned how strong his beliefs were when he says,“I believed profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep of the destruction of the Temple,” (Wiesel, 14).