Night
In the horror of the Nazi death camps portrayed in Night, Elie Wiesel and his fellow Jews had to struggle to maintain their "faith in life." This battle that they waged against "icy winds" in camps where "death was all around [them]" was a constant necessity for them to continue to survive. Harsh as it was many Jews failed, and losing their faith in life died; yet many more, like Elie, found the strength to sustain that faith and live on. By sustaining their tenuous links to a makeshift Jewish community within the camps, taking comfort in their religion where possible, and at all costs attempting to keep hope alive, Elie and his colleagues found the strength to endure and shelter what meager faith they still had in life, and to survive.For the Jews in the death camps of Auschwitz, Buna, Birkenan and Gleiwitz, faith in life was one of the few values the Nazi's could not strip from them. As much as the Nazis attempted to dehumanize the Jews by stripping them of their possessions, identities and lives, a process which for Elie "turned [his] life into one long night." For many their faith in life was still undiminished. On a long forced march, Elie's body begins to succumb to the cold, and yet at the same time "[Elie] felt somethi
The intimate bonding between the Jewish community served to assure many Jews of the worth of life. Such community strength was a foundation laid by their culture, their everyday life that linked community and religion inextricably. For many Jews, having lost all else, they could turn to others for comfort, even as Elie did when discussing Yossi and Tibi "dreams of going to Haifa...if granted [their] lives until the liberation". The young Polish head of the block of Elie's first camp encouraged the Jews to bond together, speaking "the first human words" as he established his own semi-community within the camps. It was to these in their darkest hour, and find in that humanity the strength to go on. Even for some of those who have lost their religion such as Elie, he could turn to his father or his friend Yossi and Tibi, and in the face of their compassion, re-affirm his faith in life. Moreover, the communities not only provided such humanitarian enforcement of faith in life against the death camps, but in granting structure to an otherwise destructive world, promoted a stronger faint in the capability of life to continue beyond the camps. This, perhaps, combined with the Jews pervading sense of hope to su
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tibi Yossi, Birkenan Gleiwitz, Yossi Tibi, Harsh Jews, Elie Wiesel, faith life, , death camps, nazi death camps, granted lives liberation, maintain faith life, life's capability, camps hope, sustain faith, maintain faith, hope torment, lives liberation, granted lives, jewish community,
Approximate Word count = 816
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
