The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child

William Potter

Holocaust

Ms. Shaked

12/09/2015

The Holocaust through the eyes of a child

After approximately two years of gloom, a young boy finally saw coming what he was hoping for in the distance; the Americans were finally here, and the Nazis were gone. In his life story Night, Ellie Wiesel shares his experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of Hitler’s concentration camps. Wiesel was one of the minority of Jews to endure the Holocaust during World War ll. His family did not make it through with him, and this affected him the rest of his life.

Wiesel’s character completely transformed thru his experiences at Auschwitz; he misplaced his faith in God and he became unconcerned of the survival of himself and his family members. However, regardless of these hardships, he eventually became a stronger person than he was before. The greatest change to Elie Wiesel’s identity was his loss of faith in God. Before he and his family were moved to the concentration camps, Wiesel was a devout Jewish boy who cried after praying at night (2). When the Hungarian police came to force the Jews to the Ghetto, they pulled Ellie from his prayers (13). Even on his way to Auschwitz, stuffed inside the cattle car with other terrified Jews, Wiesel gave thanks to God when told he would be assigned to a labor camp (24). After a few days in Auschwitz, Ellie Wiesel overheard about the crematory and the fact that the Nazis were killing the sick, weak, and the young. In his first night in the camp, Wiesel experienced his first crises of faith:

“Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. …Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust (32).”

Later, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Elie was not able to rejoice the New Year with the other’s in the camp. When the Rabbi said, “Blessed be the Name of the Eternal,” Wiesel thought, “Why, but why should I bless him?” In these quotes,...