Hope, Despair, and Memory

Hope, Despair, and Memory
Question 1
The Jews could not afford to despair, as they had to find a way out of the predicament that they were in. The atrocities were unspeakable and gave up was not an option. It was imperative that they remain hopeful to escape their current situation. The Jews were also very religious people and they remained hopeful that God would save them from the situation in which they had found themselves.
Question 2
All human beings were made or created for a purpose. This purpose is not always apparent and many struggles to understand what they were made to do or accomplish. Knowing one’s purpose is precisely what makes us human. We were not made to simply fill the earth. Everyone has something that he or she ought to achieve before they die. This is what differentiates us from animals; our purpose. Once a person discovers his or her purpose, then their whole life is dedicated to this purpose and rather than despair they have hope and a reason to be alive.
Question 3
Theology is the study of God and religious beliefs. He picks on these three different fields because he believes that they are the most capable of bringing change. Those people in the highest positions of the land were at the forefront of ordering the killing of Jews.
Question 4
Metamorphosis is a change, which in this regard, is changing from being a good person to one condones murder. Wiesel speaks of their memories to appeal to their human side and make them see how bad things have become.

The fact that it is people who “knew better” does make their involvement in the atrocities worse. They had forgotten their culture, which was a way of life.
Question 5
The term “passivity of onlookers” refers to the way the world watched as the atrocities were carried out against the Jews. The world’s nations stood by as thousands of Jews were placed in concentration camps and murdered. Even the so-called allies, which was the United Nations, who could help them failed to do so. Countries that were opposed to Hitler’s acts took no action as he committed unspeakable acts.
Question 6
It is impossible to reconcile God and evil as the two cannot coexist. The only this is possible is if evil disappears and God takes over. A reconciliation of the two, however, is impossible. “The biggest question is where God was during the suffering. Imagining Auschwitz both with and without God was impossible.”
Question 7
“All the progress made by man was erased in a single instance. People had to rethink and rearrange their lives.” I agree with the statement because there is a lot of truth in it. The acts committed during the genocide portrayed a very evil side of mankind. It was particularly disheartening to witness such acts considering how far the entire human race had come. It had moved past slavery, and it was thought that anti-Semitic or racial acts would not be seen again. Unfortunately, human beings are never to be trusted.
Question 8
An aberration is a departure from the normal or accepted customs or norms of society. This departure is usually an unwelcome one. Civilization is an advanced stage of human development. I think Auschwitz was an aberration of human civilization. Although there had been various incidences all across the human history, the genocide is seen as an extremity. Those who committed the unspeakable acts departed from humanity and degraded into the worst form of primitive behavior.