The Dehumanization of Jews by Hitler and the Nazi Regime Hitler and his Nazi regime used effective tactics to dehumanize and degrade the Jewish people, and reduced them to nothing but small beings that they could then rid themselves of. Some of these tactics were small, and some of the tactics were large. No matter the size, all of these tactics were completely inhumane and horrifying. Sadly, they also all took place in the book Night, by Elie Wiesel. His memoir can attest to how dehumanization occurred, and how it helped Hitler achieve his goal; The Final Solution. In this essay I will explain how Hitler used dehumanizing tactics such as identifying inmates with numbers, becoming physically abusive towards the Jews, and ridding them
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In the small town of Sighet, Romania, stories told by a foreign traveler start to spread about Hitler and the horrible treatment that was endured, "They were forced to dig huge trenches. When they finished their work, the men from the Gestapo began theirs. Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench on by one." (6) Unfortunately, the first hand accounts were not enough to wake the people of Sighet from their sleepy and laid back environment. This happened often throughout Europe, as many Jewish and non-Jewish communities decided not to believe their fate when it came to Hitler 's mass plan of destruction. When the Regime eventually enters the town, Elie and his family and the rest of the Jewish community are moved into a ghetto. This was a small portion of the city or town that was fenced in barbed wire and surrounded by Nazi guards. The Jewish people in the town were then forced to relocate into these ghettos until they were transported to concentration camps. All over Europe, sometimes thousands of Jews were confined to a fenced in area that was only the length and size of a few city blocks. They would be under constant watch by …show more content…
As soon as he exits the train he is greeted with the words "Men to the left! Women to the right!" (29). He described how those words as "Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion." Elie and his father were then separated from his mother and sisters, where the next faze of traumatizing experiences would occur. Upon arrival at Birkenau, men, women, and children were forced to strip down naked in front of each other, forced to shave off all the hair on their bodies, and were then assigned a jumpsuit. By making them look completely the same, they lose their individuality, which was just another way to dehumanized the victims of The Holocaust. As Elie 's story progresses, the reader learns about the processes of selection, where inmates would be judged on their strength, physical looks, and stamina. This selection was done by the infamous Doctor Joseph Mengele. During the first selection, both Elie and his father are chosen to work in the forced labor camp, Buna. Here, inmates were assigned to work Kommandos where they would endure hours of strenuous physical labor everyday. When Kapos believed the inmates were not doing their jobs properly or that they had done something wrong, they would publicly beat or whip them. Elie endured one of these public whippings after he witnesses a Kapo sexually harassing a young girl. The public beatings were another way to dehumanize the inmates
In the small town of Sighet, Romania, stories told by a foreign traveler start to spread about Hitler and the horrible treatment that was endured, "They were forced to dig huge trenches. When they finished their work, the men from the Gestapo began theirs. Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench on by one." (6) Unfortunately, the first hand accounts were not enough to wake the people of Sighet from their sleepy and laid back environment. This happened often throughout Europe, as many Jewish and non-Jewish communities decided not to believe their fate when it came to Hitler 's mass plan of destruction. When the Regime eventually enters the town, Elie and his family and the rest of the Jewish community are moved into a ghetto. This was a small portion of the city or town that was fenced in barbed wire and surrounded by Nazi guards. The Jewish people in the town were then forced to relocate into these ghettos until they were transported to concentration camps. All over Europe, sometimes thousands of Jews were confined to a fenced in area that was only the length and size of a few city blocks. They would be under constant watch by …show more content…
As soon as he exits the train he is greeted with the words "Men to the left! Women to the right!" (29). He described how those words as "Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion." Elie and his father were then separated from his mother and sisters, where the next faze of traumatizing experiences would occur. Upon arrival at Birkenau, men, women, and children were forced to strip down naked in front of each other, forced to shave off all the hair on their bodies, and were then assigned a jumpsuit. By making them look completely the same, they lose their individuality, which was just another way to dehumanized the victims of The Holocaust. As Elie 's story progresses, the reader learns about the processes of selection, where inmates would be judged on their strength, physical looks, and stamina. This selection was done by the infamous Doctor Joseph Mengele. During the first selection, both Elie and his father are chosen to work in the forced labor camp, Buna. Here, inmates were assigned to work Kommandos where they would endure hours of strenuous physical labor everyday. When Kapos believed the inmates were not doing their jobs properly or that they had done something wrong, they would publicly beat or whip them. Elie endured one of these public whippings after he witnesses a Kapo sexually harassing a young girl. The public beatings were another way to dehumanize the inmates