Elie's Concentration Camp example essay topic

The Holocaust was a catastrophic, cataclysmic event in history that took place over 55 years ago, but why is it still so important to us today? One of the many reasons it is still widely discussed today, is because of the many rights it violated for the Jews as human beings. The main goal of the holocaust was for Nazis to try and kill every Jewish person alive in Europe. Many Nazi leaders tried their hardest do to this, and went unpunished for their actions. All of this tragedy and calamity started when Adolf Hitler came into power.

Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich came to power in 1938, the Jews in Europe knew they were in trouble. Hitler blamed them for Germany's rapid fall as a world power and he made sure they were to be punished for their supposedly wrong doings. Elie Wiesel's novel Night, is about his own family's struggle to survive the terrifying years of the early 1940's. Wiesel exists in a minority of Jews who lived to share his unfortunate and disturbing experiences.

Elie, his three siblings, and parents were from Sighet, Transylvania. Most of the townspeople believed that living in Sighet put them far out of Hitler's reach, but they eventually were forced to face the harsh reality near the end of the war. This came as a surprise to them because the Jews had been following the path of the war closely by listening to the radio. The Jews of Sighet began to question themselves and ask is it possible for one man and his Fascist party to wipe out an entire race of people.

Although Elie 217;'s family was financially stable, their ownership of the family store made them more visible to the Nazi's, and therefore put them in great danger. Elie pleaded with his father to sell the family business and liquidate it so they could move far off to a place where Hitler could not get to them. He feared that the Fascist party was coming to wipe out the town of Sighet and that his family would lose everything that they dreamed of and worked for. His father insisted that they not sell the business because he felt there was no reason to fear the Nazis because they would not come as far as Sighet. He figured by that time the war will be over and Hitler will lose his power of Germany. In addition, his father argued that they were too old to start over in a new place and that they would be suffer financially.

Elie's father decided to take his chances. While reading, I felt that at this point the Jews should have taken the situation much more seriously then they were because now German army cars were approaching there town. The town was in shock, no one thought it would go this far and it did. The soldiers pulled up in there steel helmets and the emblems that signified death head, but it was unexpected that the soldiers would actually be kind.

Some stayed in Jewish homes and were even polite. One soldier brought chocolates to Madame Kahn, a captured Jew. "The Kahn family even said they were likeable and everyone felt rejoiced and at ease (Wiesel 8)". As a result of many of the soldier's kindness, the townspeople were still not prepared for the ultimate attack. What they did not know was that the Nazis were only waiting for reinforcements to help secure the town before beginning extermination. It was the week of Passover and all the synagogues were closed by the Nazis.

Instead, the Jews gathered for prayer at the Rabbi's house. His house later became known as the house of prayer for the people of the town. Passover is supposed to be a time of prayer, food, drink, and singing for seven days of happiness, but how much happiness could come from this event knowing that the Nazis were preparing them for deportation to concentration camps where they would be enslaved with work and little food. The townspeople stayed strong and for the most part stayed upbeat about the situation keeping there tradition alive through prayers, eating good food, and singing songs to ease the tensions. The Nazis continued their attack by arresting the Jewish leaders of the community and controlling the town. Life for the people of Sighet quickly changed.

Jews could not leave their homes for 3 days or they would be killed. Gold, jewels, objects of any real value had to be handed over to the soldiers, but Elie's father was smart and buried the family valuables in the seller. After three days, every Jew was issued a yellow star that had to be worn at all times in order to preserve their lives. Restraints, cafes, and synagogues were taken away from the people and they were not allowed out in the street past six o'clock.

The town of Sighet was to be split into two ghettos, a large one right in the middle of town that took up four streets, and the other one would be spread out all over the town in small side streets of the district. Elie's family lived on Serphant Street, which was in the large ghetto in the middle of the town. Some of the rooms in his house had to be given up for relatives who have lost everything they owned. The townspeople came together to form a little Jewish Republic because all they had was each other to help make it through these tough times.

They appointed the Jewish police, office for social assistance, labor committee, a hygiene department and a government of machinery. T alk of deportation began to spread throughout the town. The Jewish Republic would not be able to prevent the deportation. The people would only be able to bring what they could carry and everything else has to be left behind. Everyone was asked to leave their houses and form a line outside to receive there deportation times Many of the Jews knew that if they made it to the concentration camp and they could be sent straight to the crematory. In readying themselves Elie's parents said, "We must fast as much as we can before we are deported because we do not know when they will be feeding us next (Wiesel 16)".

The synagogues were used as huge stations for checking baggage to be sure that people were not jewel smuggling. From there they were sent off to be put in wagons that tightly fit eight people, one window with bars so no one could escape a few loaves of bread and two buckets of water. In the wagon they were not allowed to lie down; they were only able to sit if they others decided to stand and take turns. The time came for Elie's family to be deported.

Ellie's family, like the other Jewish families, went through the station were put into their wagons. Elie's family was split up at this point. His mother was put in one wagon with his little sisters and Elie and his father were put into another one. After two days of being tortured by thirst in the wagon, the heat became unbearable. Food was never enough to satisfy their hunger. One Jewish woman, Madame Shatter became delirious after her and her husband was separated at the station.

The whole ride she moaned and weeded. At night she would scream that there was a fire, but sure enough, they were always false alarms. When the wagon finally stopped at the camp, the woman yelled fire again, but this time she was right. She saw the chimney to where the Nazi's burned the Jews. They had reached Auschivitz concentration camp where the families would be separated and meet the Angel of Death.

"The Angel of Death was the most feared and powerful man besides Hitler for the Nazis (Wiesel 33)". Their fate was in the hands of one man, and in just a few short seconds one could either be dead or tortured for the next few years. All the Jews were ordered out of the wagons and immediately Elie and his father began to look for his mother and wife. When they found them, it was too late -- his mother and sisters were on there way to the crematory to be killed. As Elie and his father waited in line to learn their destination from the Angel of Death, others were giving him and his father advice on how to stay alive.

They told them to lie about their age because anyone over 40 or under 18 would be murdered. His father was over 40 and Elie was under 18. Without that helpful information they both would have been sent straight to the crematory. As Elie and his father entered the camp, they were issued prison- like clothing and all the hair on there body was shaved off. Next, they were all sent to work.

Reflecting on the situation Elie said, "If I was sent to the crematory I would have run straight for the fence and jumped on it (Wiesel 39)". The fences were electrical and anyone who touched it would be shocked to death. He felt that if he was going to die it would not be at the hands of the Nazis. He would be able to rest in peace if he killed himself rather then having some Nazi kill him.

Every day, they had to face the guards of the camp, who were mostly so cruel to the Jews, but some of the Nazi's were nice and tried to befriend the Jews, but those who were lenient towards the Jews were executed by being hung. The Jews were given very little food and very little time to rest. Each week they had one day off and that would be on Sunday, on that day they could do almost whatever they wanted. They were even treated a little better by receiving an extra portion of food or bread that is all the Jews were served. Because of these conditions the older Jews began to die because their bodies we not able to fight the hunger and the harsh winters they faced with the little clothing they were issued.

Elie was young and was able to withstand rougher conditions then most of the others in the concentration camps. He also had a little something else; he would not give in to hunger and the bitter coldness because he would not leave his father there by himself. They both used each other as motivation to keep themselves living. Elie looked in his father's eyes and knew the harsh conditions were taking its toll on his father. Near the end of the war with Russian soldiers coming to the rescue the Nazi's began deporting Elie's concentration camp once again.

Just like in the beginning if one was not up to par with their health and physical ability that person would be sent to the crematory. Elie knew his father might not pass, he thought he might not even pass because of his foot condition. Elie had to get surgery on his foot because it became badly swollen from a puss buildup and faced amputation but the doctors at the camp caught the problem in time and corrected it with the surgery. With the Russian's attack on the concentration camp the Jews were issued as much clothing as they would need to face the bitterness of the cold to march to the next concentration camp to steer clear of the Russians. As Jews were forced to flee the camp people were being trampled on and killed because the officers were forcing them to run faster and if anyone was to stop they would be shot on the spot.

With Elie's foot conditions he was unsure if he was able to make the journey, he was just recovering from surgery and with no shoe on he reopened his wound. Blood flowed into the white snow as he ran alongside his father who urged him to keep running. The pain soon left his mind because he could not concentrate on that anymore; all he cared about was making it to the next camp alongside his father. On the way many of his friends and colleagues were shot because they were not able to keep up with the rest of the group.

They stopped running and the officers without thinking shot one after another. Everyone felt the pain and the sorrow of their friends being shot but they knew they had to move on or they would be next. The gate to the new concentration camp was near, they made the march. It was more of a triumph for the Jews because now they could rest and get the attention they needed if they were wounded. They were glad just to be alive and to make it through everyone being trampled on. Elie's father became very ill and was not able to make another march to another concentration camp if they had to leave again.

As he begged his son for water a soldier told him to keep quiet but he paid no mind to the soldier. The soldier cracked him over the head with his gun and his father lay there still. He was still breathing but close to death. "I awoke on January 29, 1945 at dawn. In my father's place lay another invalid. They must have taken him away before dawn and carried him to the crematory.

He may still have been breathing (Wiesel 106)". Elie d id not weep because there were no more tears left for him to cry. "It pained me that I could not weep. But I had no more tears (Wiesel 106)".

For the next couple of months Elie was to await his freedom, keep hope alive that he was going to make it out of this concentration camp. Word hit that the Russians were on attack again and the Nazis were preparing another move to a new concentration camp. This time they moved to late and the attack began and after a few hours the attack was over. At the foot of the gate they saw the first American tank. "The first act of as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that.

Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread (Wiesel 109)". Shortly after the rescue Elie became ill with food poisoning and was transferred to the hospital and spent a few weeks between life and death. Elie had made it to freedom and only wished his family could have been there to share the joy of being free again.

Many Jews died for no reason during this era of madness over in Germany during the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Millions upon millions lost their lives and were separated from their families. Elie and his family were separated at the station back in Sighet. Elie and his father had to watch his mother and sisters go off to the crematory, many families had to watch their family members go straight to death or even watch them die as they are being beat to death because there work is not up to par.

Elie now only has a life of loneliness without his family to look forward to and the horrible memories of seeing people be killed or how his friends suffered to their death. That is a great deal of trauma for one child to witness at such a young age. The numbers they were issued and tattooed on there forearms will always remind them of those terrible days at the concentration camps. Those memories alone are enough to drive one to be crazy and not want to live on. Elie went on to be an accomplished writer and professor at Boston University and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Elie is a success story who made it through those tough years and became one of the most influential writers of the Holocaust. This was his story and how he survived and became a hero.