Trigger warning: This essay discusses genocide, anti-Semitism, rape, torture, and dehumanization.

This essay examines the impact of the Holocaust on the Jews, its impact on our understanding of human nature, and its enduring legacy today from Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night. Since Hitler was not only against the Jewish people but also against their religion, culture, and tradition, it is not difficult to prove that he intended to also erase their memory. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night mentioned that the Holocaust was not just a massive exploitation of the Jewish people, but also an indelible shadow that seems to hang over the subsequent development of the Jewish people, leaving a deep scar in the common memory of Jewish consciousness. Since he experienced such painful memory, why did Elie Wiesel insist on returning to those experiences to write his book?

Elie Wiesel says in his memoir, that the Germans first destroyed the Jews’ homes, burned their synagogues, and then finally put the Jews in the concentration camps. The triage caused many Jews to be separated from their families. Young Jewish men were forced to do hard labor while being physically mistreated and then squeezed into concentration camps. There, they would die from starvation and exhaustion or be killed when they were no longer capable of working. The German soldiers often demanded young Jewish women take off all their clothes, before they tortured them inhumanely, sometimes raping them, then, after that, shooting them. It was young children who were treated the most cruelly. They would truck the children to the incineration site where they would be burned in front of other Jewish prisoners, including their family. Elie Wiesel’s book mentioned that the only images left in the community’s memory were the lingering, terrified faces of innocent children and the smell of misty smoke.

The above inhumane acts have caused great harm to the Jewish people and were destructive to them both physically and mentally. The Holocaust deprived their right to life, their dignity, their spiritual sustenance and life itself. What makes them more desperate is that they have lost these precious things, and the numbness and cowardice grow as seeds planted in their deep hearts. To explain this, Elie Wiesel often uses poetic meters to describe his experiences, and resonated with the reader’s hearts so that they understand the depth of his experience. That is an important reason why Night is special and so moving. 

For example, one of those hopeless moments in Night is when Elie Wiesel’s father is dying and he asks to see his son for the last time, Wiesel does the very thing he will come to most regret for the rest of his life—he doesn’t come towards his father because he is afraid. The old man keeps saying “[Please] don’t leave me alone!”, but he doesn’t move because he fears retaliation and is too afraid to incur the wrath of the SS. He might have emotionally wanted to, but because of the long abuse he had endured, his brain has been forced into the protective mechanisms for self-preservation, causing him to ignore his father’s pleas in the face of death. This level of emotional detachment is extremely frightening; the spiritual world, and all sanity, have been destroyed to the point of non-existence. Wiesel even admits that “[his] father was no longer conscious.” They were whipped into obedience, dehumanized, and treated to be less than animals. This dark chapter in human history serves as a stark reminder of our capacity for cruelty. It urges us to remember the suffering of the past and to steadfastly oppose any form of discrimination and persecution.

The Holocaust was likely the most deeply felt, the most painful, and the most tangible episode of Jewish history. When people began to desperately pray to God out of fear for their life, they were faced with disappointing answers: “For God’s sake, where is God? Where is he? […] This is where—hanging here from the gallows…” Here Wiesel’s writing technique expressing the feeling of despair under relentless inhumanity and is a great example of his linguistic ability.

Another impressive scene is at the end of the book in which Elie Wiesel and other Jews survive out of sheer luck: 

Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That’s all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread. And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge…. But still no trace of revenge. 

When they were finally free, the first thing they wanted most was food. Yet even if they were full and had no longer had to worry about survival, they didn’t think of revenge. Surviving against all odds shows their great vitality, but it also exposes the most vulnerable side of their humanity.

From a Jewish perspective, it’s important to recognize that we cannot expect someone preoccupied with survival to exhibit normal emotional responses. During such times, their means of emotional and mental communication may have been shattered, leaving only their survival instincts intact. As a result of this profound mental trauma, they may feel a heightened sense of fear towards their surroundings, constantly on alert to protect their lives. From a German perspective, it is difficult to comprehend the inhumane and horrific methods the Nazis employed to dismantle a cohesive and vibrant community built on shared beliefs and a rich culture. This tragic and primitive aspect of human nature is unimaginable, and this part of history continues to be incomprehensible. All this brings us to witness the true distortion of human nature.

Today, the painful memories of the past are still lingering in the hearts of Elie Wiesel and other Jews. Although many years have passed since World War II, it still affects people today. Some of the descendants of Germans and Jews who fought in World War II are still suffering, haunted by the shadow of the past, a past that cannot and should not be forgotten. Elie Wiesel hopes the world can remember this painful phase of history, so that memory can serve as a safeguard of their Jewish dignity. 

I think everyone should remember history, remember the terrible acts of aggression that should never have existed in the history of mankind, especially the people of the races that committed the aggression and the races that were heinously mistreated. The people of the races that committed the war crimes need to remember and repent for the mistakes of their ancestors and avoid the recurrence of tragedies. 

After World War II, Germany needed to rejoin the international community and realized that the only way was to confront their crimes instead of running from them. The Germans offered a sincere apology, and reparations to the Jewish people, while denouncing the Nazis, trying to show their sincerity and repentance. Germany rehabilitated its international reputation after World War II by reconciling with the victims of the Nazis and acknowledging the atrocities Germany had committed. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “We Germans will never forget the hand of reconciliation that was extended to us after all the suffering that our country had brought to Europe and the world.” In a 2014 BBC World Service poll, Germany ranked first in popularity, with 60% of the international community rating it positively. This was a journey that took many years.

Of course, the Jewish people should not and cannot forget their painful history. They should try to become stronger while remembering the suffering they have endured while endeavoring to face the future positively. This is the driving force behind Elie Wiesel’s courageous decision to unveil the painful scars of his experiences in his powerful work, Night, illuminating the enduring impact of trauma and the necessity of remembrance.