Thursday, 10 March 2005

•             Genocide came in many forms and in many places, but the holocaust during World War II had a major affect on people such as Elie Wiesel. In this book Night, by Elie Wiesel, there were many major experiences that deeply affected him.  He starts off with his interest of the religion.  He was approached with a question he had never thought of, “Why do you pray?” (Wiesel,2).  Several months later, news of deportation was going around the neighborhood.  When it came time for their deportation, he came across Madame Schachter and her little boy on the train.  Both Madame Schachter and Moshe the Beadle were thought of as insane, but in truth, they knew what was really going on.  During his time at the concentration camp, Elie witnessed many hangings.  One of which he witnessed was a little boy.  He thought, “Where is God now?”  At one point of the book, Elie was faced with many hard decisions, one was whether to leave his father or not.  Watching the Rabbi and his son separate due to the Rabbi’s lagging encouraged Elie to stay with his father. His father was the only thing he had left.

              As a young boy, Elie was curious about his religion.  He would sit in the synagogue and pray.  With Moshe the Beadle presenting him with a question one day, “Why do you pray?” it broadened his knowledge of God.  Moshe the Beadle disappeared one day, only to come back several weeks later completely different.  Moshe was no longer the man who asked good questions about God, he was the man who told crazy stories.  The same went for Madame Schachter, the crazy lady on the train who screamed, “Fire, fire!” (Wiesel,23)

              While Elie was in concentration camp, he witnessed many horrifying tortures and deaths.  He saw many cruel ways, for instance, the burning of the babies (Wiesel,30) and the different hangings on the gallows.  On one particular day, the hanging was different.  They hung a little servant boy along with 2 other men.  The 2 men died with blue tongues and glazed eyes, but the boy remained hanging with struggle for more than half an hour.  He overheard a simple yet overwhelming question being brought up, “Where is God now?”  (Wiesel, 62) God was hanging on the gallows, where Elie lost his faith.

              Concentration camp meant there was slim chance of surviving.  With this slim chance, it meant one had to fight/struggle for their own lives.  Elie was tempted to leave his father at times, but he couldn’t bear it.  Watching the Rabbi looking for his lost son in the march made Elie realize that would be his father, lost and worried. (Wiesel, 82) His father was growing old and lagging behind.  Leaving him would leave Elie better off and easier to survive, but witnessing the other father and sons being separated was something Elie did not want to go through. 

              Moshe the Beadle, the witnessing of the hangings, and also the witnessing of father and sons separating were only some of the major impacts on Wiesels younger years.  Moshe the Beadle was the only one who taught and expanded Wiesels knowledge on his religion, due to his young age.  Witnessing the child struggle between life and death was a representation of God.  With the struggle and slow dying, it showed Elie’s faith in God- slowly struggling and dying.  His father was usually always busy with helping people before they came into the concentration camps, but being with him during the concentration camp bonded them somehow.  They took care of each other and stayed strong for one another.  They trusted each other to do so, making it twice as hard to leave his father behind.

  The Holocaust during World War II is known to be classified as genocide. However, Jews were not the only group of people to be persecuted. Gypsies were just one among the many other races persecuted during World War II. Even though they are the descendants of ancient tribes of Northern India, the Romani were called Gypsies by the Europeans (Friedman, 7). The Europeans thought they had migrated from Egypt because of their dark skin. The Romani were comprised of several groups in actuality. The two largest are the Sinti and the Roma. They were all grouped into one category called “Gypsies”. Gypsies were persecuted throughout centuries, so it’s no wonder why the Germans did not make them an exception.

  By 1945, between a half and one and half million died by the hands of the Nazis. Anton Bubili Fojn was an Austrian Sinti. His story of survival reflects the treatment of the Romani by the Nazis government. All the victims that were caught by the Gestapo officers, Jews and Gypsies alike, were caught, thrown to jail, then thrown into a concentration camp. Bubili was fifteen when the Gestapo grabbed him by the arm and put him in jail. His capture was unexpected and he was stumped as to what he had done wrong.

  
  

  Both Elie and Bubili were forced to have their hair shaved off, including their body hair. They were forced to take off all their clothing, and hand over any valuables they had, such as jewelry, papers or documents, and money. The prisoners were given clothing that did not fit them. “If you were tall, you got striped pants that were too short. If you were short, you got striped pants that were too long” (Friedman, 19). What Elie and Bubili have in common is that both of their fathers died in the concentration camps. Elie’s father died because he was too weak and sick to carry on, so he was sent to the crematory. Bubili’s father was gassed on the truck. Bother Elie and Bubili’s fathers were killed by the Nazis. Elie’s father and Bubili’s father were both men of a powerful size. After living in the concentration camps and suffering, it caused them to appear as if they had shrunken in size. All the prisoners were starved and forced to work hard and tedious labor, which weakened them.

  Bubili had stayed strong in spirit throughout his time spent at the concentration camps, while Elie was being dehumanized and he didn’t even know it. Bubili had a reason for surviving. He wanted to survive so he could “bear witness to this senseless machinery of human destruction,” (Friedman, 21). He stayed strong in spirt, however Elie did not. There were times where he wanted to leave his father behind because he causing Elie to lag. Watching the little boy struggle between life and death did not cause him to feel sympathetic, but caused him to lose faith and hope in God. Others did not even shed a tear.

  Bubili had many chances to escape what could’ve been his burden, which was his family. Elie, on the other hand, transformed mentally and emotionally. From the beginning when the people of the ghettos where deported to the concentration camps, he held onto his father’s hand thinking that they can never be separated. Starting at one point in the book, Elie began to questioning if he should leave his father behind or not. Bubili did not think of leaving his family behind however.

  
  

  Bubili may not have transformed in spirit and hope, but there were experiences that had dehumanized him and transformed him physically, emotionally and mentally. When he had his hair shaved off, that was an case of dehumanization. “Without my hair, I was no longer Bubili. I was a piece of wood,” (Friedman, 11). He even found that the position of being an object was too good for his situation. “No, worse, Even a piece of wood could be used for something. We were trash, something to be thrown away,” (Friedman, 12). This even affected him physically and emotionally. It’s physical because he has lost all his hair, emotionally because it has dehumanized him. By shaving off their hair, it makes them feel unworthy of themselves. To the Nazis, this did not matter because that was their intention.

  The loss of his father caused him to become stronger emotionally. At first when he heard the news of his father’s death, Bubili couldn’t eat for several days. Until a block elder talked some sense into him, he realized that he had to survive so he could be a witness to human destruction. It was this that had given him hope, a reason to continue living.  Bubili transformed but not like Elie. Bubili transformed into a stronger person. Living at the concentration camps gave him the ability to face and deal with human evil. Seeing how everyone else around him died by the hands of the Nazis, almost gave a mirrored reflection of what he would have become.

  Bubili’s experience during the Holocaust was similar and different to Elie’s. Bubili and Elie both had to do give up all their possessions, lost their homes and family members. Bubili was forced to do physical labor, such as hauling trees, and digging trenches. Both their fathers died in the concentration camps, but Bubili’s father was gassed on a truck. Elie’s father died by the crematories. Bubili did not stay at the concentration camps long enough to witness the cruelty during his time. Elie was held captive in the concentration camps for a long time, but both were liberated by the Americans. Both Bubili and Elie were assigned to work and were both hardworking. Both of them also managed to get the less tedious jobs. Their experiences are similar, but there were some differences. Bubili managed to save sixteen children by switching their numbers with the old people, while Elie did not save anyone except himself.

  Based from our research, we can conclude that human beings in general and their ability to survive can be pulled down by others, yet they have some will power in them to keep on living. Seeing what happens to other can make you believe that this can never happen again. Some may believe that they should stay alive to achieve vengeance for the loved ones they lost. For example, when Bubili's father was gassed on the truck, he hadn't eaten anything for several days. Then, he decided that he should stay alive so he could be a witness to the massacre of humanity. This vengeance comes from within us and surfaces when something as sensitive as the death of a family member by the hands of the Nazis occurs. Elie was tempted to leave his father for his own chance of survival, but he couldn’t bear to leave his father behind. Witnessing others go through what he would have done strengthened his will to stick by his father. Human beings in general have many instincts that do not surface until a sensitive matter arises. Their reasons for their actions can be unexplainable yet it can appear to be righteous.

  [Susan Ng’s Reflection:]

  Reading the book and researching about a specific person informed me much more about the Holocaust. It has always made me wonder exactly how and why so many people were able to be systematically mass murdered. After researching about the Holocaust and reading first-person accounts of this ordeal, also makes me wonder if this could ever happen again in history. The answer to that question is ‘yes' because genocide still exists to this day. The fact that no one, meaning an authoritative figure, speaks of or does anything about it in public is a shame. If society says that the Holocaust was morally wrong, then how can they live with their conscience if genocide still occurs even after World War II? This project has taught me to appreciate the environment I'm living in, and be happy that I was not a part of the Holocaust or any way or form genocide.

  [Jenny Lam’s Reflection:]

  After reading Night, by Elie Wiesel, and researching other forms of genocide like the Gypsy Holocaust, my knowledge on the past expanded. Having Hitler as their leader convinced people that the Nazi’s were the superiors while the Jewish, Gypsies, Polish, etc., all needed to be exterminated or moved out of the country. History is a big form of our lives. We use it to keep our present and future from repeating history all over again. With the knowledge of the cruelty people lived through in the past reinforces us to steer clear of that and to prevent it from happening again. I believe those who remained strong and tried their hardest to survive the brutality are the unsung heroes. They inspire the world to keep hope, to stay alive, to make history. 

   

  ^^ GLOBAL PROJECT WITH SUSAN!

  ROFLMAO! GHETTO STYLE!

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