Dehumanization in

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Dehumanization in “Night” by Elie Wiesel
Different opinions can be raised whether Adolf Hitler had psychological problems that made him ruthless, however, from “Night” by Wiesel, the events that befell the Jews proves otherwise. Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 before the outbreak of the Second World War in Transylvania, a region that was under Hungary by the period between1941 to 1943. His father Chlomo married to Sarah was a shopkeeper. The people were religious and lived peacefully until the invasion by the Germany soldiers that were directed by Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler is the greatest dictator that ever existed on this Earth having started the Nazi regime in Germany and its territories. Elie uses his writing the “Night” to narrate his endurance with Mr. Chlomo in the absorption camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald for two years before the Second World War ended. He named the book “Night” to emphasize fast pace at which events were unfolding. They happened so fast as if it was only for a single night that dehumanization took place. The deportation saw the Jews arrested and treated ruthlessly with others being separated from their families, some exposed to hard unbearable conditions and others killed without any convincing reason.
Things started to turn wild after the Jewish leader was arrested on the Seventh day of Passover by the Germany soldiers. After new faces had arrived in the ghetto, Wiesel’s father narrated to them the horrible news that they were going to Hungary through deportation mission by the Hungarian police officers.

When they arrived at Kaschau, a police officer told them that they were now under the German Army. He went further telling them what to do; “Those of you who still have gold, silver, or watches in your possession must give them up.” (Wiesel 13). Everything turned dark as they started to experience threats and torture. “If anyone is missing, you’ll all be shot like dogs,” said the German officer (Wiesel 13).
Apart from the ruthless officers’ threats, Madame Schachter was separated from her husband through the different trains thus she kept making noise. She was beaten until she kept quiet. The officers in charge were very inhuman as they never bothered if the direct strokes on the head could kill her or not. After they had arrived at Auschwitz, they were ordered out of the train where there was a huge flame of fire that had the smell of burning flesh (McKinney 622-623). The men were separated from the women causing confusion as there was a belief that one of the groups was going to be killed. At Auschwitz, they worked as prisoners and could not even get enough space to sleep. Life was very miserable, and some of the Jews that had been brought to this place including Sarah and her daughter were killed in the furnaces leaving Wiesel with his father.
Moreover, dehumanization features in the story as seen in the organized unbearable conditions that were exposed to the Jews. For instance, there was a hanging plot of the doctor who was said to have been “running a private traffic in the prisoners’ gold teeth.” Such killings are not justifiable and are against humanity. Similarly, the Jews were subjected to torture through the cattle cars that were sealed immediately they entered making it hard for them to breath. They could only sit in turns since space was limited. Wiesel explains the conditions at the gypsies camp which was their new barrack. The sleeping rooms were very unbearable; “there was no floor, a roof, and four walls. Our fit sank into the mud” there were no beds, and this forced them to sleep while standing (Wiesel, 22). After rumors had gone around that the Red Army was approaching Buna, the prisoners requested the officers to vacate them from the camp. They were escorted through heavy snow where those who could not move anymore were shot. The bad weather that they experienced cause Mr. Chlomo to suffer from Dysentery making it hard for him to go out of the rooms. He was beaten severally by those who stayed with him. “When I came back from the bread distribution, I found my father weeping like a child; Son, they keep hitting me” (Wiesel, 59) It is from this place that the father to Wiesel died just three months before they were liberated.
Adolf Hitler confined the Jews at the same time subjecting them to unbearable conditions to ensure that they could not resist. They were either forced into hard labor or to be consumed by the furnaces. He treated all the people from the territories that Nazi conquered with ruthlessness thus making it hard for them to resist. Wiesel narrates how they had peace and religious life while he was young until the deportation mission started. The religious beliefs that they believed in varnished as they continued to experience torture and dehumanization citing that their God had abandoned them. The inhuman activities that he treated the Jews left most of them dead until his defeat by the Americans after the Nagasaki Hiroshima bombing in 1945.
Work Cited
McKinney, S. J. “Book Review: Dark Night Of The Holocaust: Elie Wiesel, Night (London: Penguin, 2008.  7.99. Pp. 144. ISBN 978–0–141–038995)”. The Expository Times 120.12 (2009): 622-623. Web.Wiesel, Elie. “Night”. Hill & Wang 1-65. Print.