Holocaust

Essay assignment about Bravery.

Of the entire history of the human race, both fictional and non-fictional, there has been numerous acts of bravery from both men and women that even those oh so enchanted tales of heroes from ancient times still captivate us to this day. Sadly only one can be spoken and discussed so to elaborate the chosen topic of this piece shall be Elie Wiesel’s book “Night”.  This can be considered to be one of many great books that show tremendous acts of bravery, all done by a young man under extreme conditions. A victim and survivor of the holocaust the author, also the main character, tells the heart braking tale of how his whole world is destroyed and his faith forever shaken. Once again the book of “Night” can be considered as one of the great struggles of bravery in the face of danger or this book’s case death.

 

First let’s begin with how these terrible events are to be. Eliezer and his family lived in the small village of Sighet which is located in the Carpathian Mountains of Hungary. During this time World War 2 was taking place and the Germans had just invaded Hungary, the year was March 18, 1944. From this point the Jews of Sighet slowly lose their rights and finally their homes as the Germans demanded them to move to the ghettos. Eliezer sees his whole world collapse around him and the final stage being the deportation of the Jews to Auschwitz, one of the most infamous death camps of World War II. The journey there is pitiful with all the Jews being stuffed into cattle cars and the stench of fear so thick you could practically see it. Bravery so far is almost non-existent and terror seems to rule both Eliezer’s and the Jews’ reality. Any sense of courage can only be found finally when Eliezer finds his will to survive by making sure he is always with his father, Shlomo, and not be separated. That is the only thing keeping Eliezer going because he had witness the burning of children in the fire pits when he first arrived. The end result of that event is the short monologue of Eliezer of the everlasting night and the death of his faith.

 

The second aspect of bravery that Eliezer suffers through would be the constant staring at death in the face. During his time at Birkenau Eliezer and his father Shlomo are forced as workers for the Nazi war effort.  The Kapo, a guard of the captives, were constantly cruel to the Jewish prisoners. One example of this is Schlomo’s request to use the bathroom only to be beaten by one of these cruel men. The Jews are stripped naked and are forced to be lectured at by a German official who makes the overall statement that they were to work or burn in the crematorium. They are escorted to Buma, a work camp, to help support the Nazi war machine. During the time there we see Eliezer change as he begins to just focus on surviving and less on the world around him. Reality checks in when he is beaten nearly to death by a Kapo and only continues to live because of the comfort given by a young French girl. These small acts of bravery by others in the camp in trying to help the others to survive may have been the only reason that both Eliezer and his father had survived there dreadful experiences in the hell like world of the camps.

 

The third concept of bravery that is seen is Eliezer’s desire to live. Eliezer is whipped for his witnessing of a Kapo having sex with a young woman and also had to surrender his gold crown to prevent the continue humiliation of his father by another Kapo. The following weeks Eliezer is hard pressed to live on especially when he and the other Jews are forced to watch a hanging of a young boy slowing die on the gallows. Eliezer describes this event with much detail and ends it with that “God is here, he is dead with that young boy”. This yet another sign of how he has lost his faith in God while everyone else around him continues to be faithful. This pious attitude does not last amongst the Jews sadly fore eventually one by one the prisoners begin to lose the desire to believe and live. Another selection test is given of who will live and who will die and Shlomo is one of those to suffer through this. Eliezer’s father, knowing that he will fail the test, gives Eliezer a knife and a spoon. These items are the only thing Shlomo can give his son as an inheritance. Shlomo does indeed fail the test and is sentenced to burn in the fires, but a twist of fate happens when Eliezer returns from work to find his father alive. A second test had occurred and his father had passed this giving the father and son a little more time to spend with each other. This restores a bit of Eliezer’s resolve to live now that his father is still with him and also his bravery. A week later Eliezer’s foot swells up due to the icy winter and has to undergo an operation. While this is happening rumors begin to circulate that the Russian army is approaching and that they will free all the prisoners they come by. The Germans in response to this oncoming threat evacuates Buma of all the Jews. This is the beginning stage of the last part of “Night” to where Eliezer begins to see how his father’s existence is only a burden and that he can only survive if Shlomo would die. Eliezer sees many acts of cruelty from both German and Jew alike. Jews are shot who do not keep up and Jews kill each other to survive. The journey to Buchenwald weakens Eliezer’s father that Shlomo begins to cave in himself. Finally a sickness and a beating from an SS officer ends his life. Eliezer feels sadness and shame for instead of feeling utterly lost with his father, he feels relief. The remaining weeks pass as a blur until Allied troops free the remaining Jews. Eliezer’s last account from the book is that he stares into a mirror to see a corpse staring back.

 

The entire story of “Night” reveals to us how humanity is reduced to barbaric acts of survival and that bravery is scarce. Though it can argued that Eliezer was not being brave and he himself would argue this it should be noted that Eliezer nearly gave in many times, but kept going for the sake of his father. By this alone he is brave for not many of us can account of being able to risk our lives for the ones we love. “Night” is a book that shows us many acts of bravery from many people and these things helped Eliezer survive an experience that will forever leave its mark in history as the Holocaust.