“One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live.(109)”
Throughout Night by Elie Wiesel, Nazis show time and time again how relentless they will be with their physical and emotional abuse towards prisoners in concentration camps. Through understanding the ways Nazis dehumanize Jews and other minorities, we can see three very important steps to bringing them back into normal life: Non physically abusive treatment, giving them goals, friends, a reason to live, and a non-fluctuant lifestyle, and providing former prisoners with more diverse lifestyle choices.
One of Nazi Germany’s most well known ways of dehumanizing people is by physically abusing them. For example, Elie states that one of the kapos was “beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows(53)” when he would not work hard enough. This abuse can damage you not only physically, but emotionally. This was a very important step towards breaking down the prisoners into something less than human, and turning them into animals. As well as physical abuse, Nazi Germany is also known for turning prisoners against each other. When describing another prisoners assault on him, Elie states that he “felt two hands on my throat, trying to strangle me(102)”. There may not be a complete remedy to fix the trauma done to them by the Nazis, but good physical treatment is required for someone to stay mentally stable. I’d argue that the Nazis opened up something inside of the prisoners by normalizing relentless physical abuse. Consequently, the prisoners could almost take the place of the Nazis, when it comes to harming each other. If the daily attacks on prisoners physical self would end, their mental states would greatly improve. Along with the Nazis active abuse, they also would starve their prisoners daily(42). It has been shown that extreme hunger can harm one severely, especially under these dreadful circumstances. Once exiting the concentration camps, it would be very beneficial for the former prisoners to try and get into a solid meal schedule. As well as physical abuse, Nazi Germany stripped away the people’s will to live. …show more content…
Throughout Night, you can see that all that is keeping Elie going is his father. He specifically states after his father’s death that “nothing matters anymore(113)”, but many did not have any family shortly after arriving at the concentration camp. Family keeps people going and gives one goals and aspirations, and without that, what can one do? People need relationships to want to live, to give themselves meaning. Building relationships is a very important task in the rehumanization process. Along with relationships, a stable environment is also needed to stay mentally fit. I would say that the prisoners visiting so many different concentration camps(98) is part of the torture that the Nazis have planned, for it is very difficult to be changing from horrible circumstance to horrible circumstance. Not only can such a fluctuant lifestyle break one’s mental state down, but for many, their faith in God is like family to them. During the selections, a Rabbi had said to Elie that “God is no longer with us(76)”. This sentiment was not only shared by him, but by many other prisoners in the camps(68). As previously mentioned, food is vital for
Throughout Night by Elie Wiesel, Nazis show time and time again how relentless they will be with their physical and emotional abuse towards prisoners in concentration camps. Through understanding the ways Nazis dehumanize Jews and other minorities, we can see three very important steps to bringing them back into normal life: Non physically abusive treatment, giving them goals, friends, a reason to live, and a non-fluctuant lifestyle, and providing former prisoners with more diverse lifestyle choices.
One of Nazi Germany’s most well known ways of dehumanizing people is by physically abusing them. For example, Elie states that one of the kapos was “beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows(53)” when he would not work hard enough. This abuse can damage you not only physically, but emotionally. This was a very important step towards breaking down the prisoners into something less than human, and turning them into animals. As well as physical abuse, Nazi Germany is also known for turning prisoners against each other. When describing another prisoners assault on him, Elie states that he “felt two hands on my throat, trying to strangle me(102)”. There may not be a complete remedy to fix the trauma done to them by the Nazis, but good physical treatment is required for someone to stay mentally stable. I’d argue that the Nazis opened up something inside of the prisoners by normalizing relentless physical abuse. Consequently, the prisoners could almost take the place of the Nazis, when it comes to harming each other. If the daily attacks on prisoners physical self would end, their mental states would greatly improve. Along with the Nazis active abuse, they also would starve their prisoners daily(42). It has been shown that extreme hunger can harm one severely, especially under these dreadful circumstances. Once exiting the concentration camps, it would be very beneficial for the former prisoners to try and get into a solid meal schedule. As well as physical abuse, Nazi Germany stripped away the people’s will to live. …show more content…
Throughout Night, you can see that all that is keeping Elie going is his father. He specifically states after his father’s death that “nothing matters anymore(113)”, but many did not have any family shortly after arriving at the concentration camp. Family keeps people going and gives one goals and aspirations, and without that, what can one do? People need relationships to want to live, to give themselves meaning. Building relationships is a very important task in the rehumanization process. Along with relationships, a stable environment is also needed to stay mentally fit. I would say that the prisoners visiting so many different concentration camps(98) is part of the torture that the Nazis have planned, for it is very difficult to be changing from horrible circumstance to horrible circumstance. Not only can such a fluctuant lifestyle break one’s mental state down, but for many, their faith in God is like family to them. During the selections, a Rabbi had said to Elie that “God is no longer with us(76)”. This sentiment was not only shared by him, but by many other prisoners in the camps(68). As previously mentioned, food is vital for