Leitze

1
Halle Leitze
Mrs. Lowe
Honors 10, Per 4A
2 October, 2016
Literary Analysis
Inhumanities of the Holocaust
During the dark years of the early 1940s, the world was enveloped in the devastation of
World War II. Germany and its allies, under the command of Adolf Hitler, were attempting to
take over; however, under the facade of warfare, German Jews and those of neighboring
countries had crushing acts of inhumanity inflicted upon

them. Night, a novel by Holocaust

survivor Elie Wiesel, narrates the horrors forced upon the Jews by the Nazis, the Hungarian
police, and sometimes even other imprisoned Jews.
The Nazis were beyond cruel for their wretched treatment of the Jewish communities
forced into the concentration camps and shall forever be bitterly remembered as torturers and
murderers. The Nazis treated their prisoners like animals, fed them like animals, used them like
animals, and slaughtered them like animals. This treatment was most strongly expressed toward
Elieser in the form of malnourishment and overworking. The SS guard would force him and his
comrades into backbreaking work with little to no food in return. Elieser also gives a lengthy
description of being forced to run many miles through bitter cold with the Nazis shooting any
and every person who stopped for even just a moment. They had orders to shoot anyone who
could not sustain the pace. Their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of the
pleasure. (Wiesel 89) The Nazis did not care if any of their prisoners froze in the snow. They

Leitze
2
did not care if one dropped dead from exhaustion. The Nazis even enjoyed the slaughter of the
prisoners. After all, in the opinion of the SS, these Jews were just filthy dogs(Wiesel 89)
whom they were forced to contain within the Camps.
While the Nazis are notorious for abusing the Jews, the Hungarian police force were also
involved in the persecution of the Jewish people. The Hungarians were the first to treat Eliezer's
family and friends like dirty worthless animals. Elieser recalls the hungarians screaming Move
you lazy good-for-nothings! (Wiesel 19) as the Jews of Sighet were isolated from the rest of
society by being relocated to crowded ghettos. However, when the ghettos were liquidated, the
Hungarian police showed brutality as they yelled harshly and unforgivingly beat obedience into
their prisoners with rifle butts. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell
and death. (Wiesel 19).
The conditions of the concentration camps and transportation methods sometimes even
compelled the peaceful, nonviolent Jews into the mistreatment of their brethren. While being
transported from his home in sighet to the misery of the camp, some of the Jews in Elies
transport showed deep cruelty towards a terrified and traumatized mother. This poor woman was
wailing and screaming about a fire!(Wiesel 25), afraid of the future to come and she began to
be struck and beaten then bound and gagged just for the sake of silence. Later in the novel
Eliezer's father is beaten up for not marching properly. Elie is even whipped in public just for
stumbling upon his kapo taking part in unwholesome activity. "Meir, my little Meir! Dont you
recognize me Youre killing your father I have bread for you too for you too
"(Wiesel 100). In the harsh months with little food a boy killed his father and was killed by
other greedy prisoners over the matter of one scrappy crust of bread.

Leitze
3
The Jews had to endure miserable, inhuman treatment from Nazis, Hungarian police, and
at times even their own family and friends. Night is a heartbreaking story which captures this
feeling of inhumanity brought to life by one of the greatest tragedies of all time.