Reflective Essay On Night By Elie Wiesel

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World War II is frequently characterized by the Holocaust, where 6 million European Jews were murdered (“The Holocaust”). To this day, many still deny the occurrence of the Holocaust, questioning how such horrors could happen, especially in such modern, civilized times. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, Elie describes the daily hardships of being a prisoner in a concentration camp through his own perspective. There were many groups of people that hold responsibility for this horrendous mass murder of the Jewish people. The residents near Auschwitz and other towns near concentration camps who knew about the camps have 10% of the blame. The residents did not bother to attempt to help the dying masses of Jews. When the prisoners “went through the villages, many of the Germans stared at [them] without surprise. They had probably already seen quite a few of these processions” (Wiesel 54). There were many ways for the residents to offer help, such as sneaking some bread or clothes, but they chose to …show more content…
For example, the Kapo, Idek, “[moved] a hundred prisoners so that he could lie with a girl!” and when Elie is accidentally caught being near their scene, Idek shouts, “You’re going to pay for this pretty soon… And now, go back to your place” (Wiesel 64). Idek abuses his authority so he can have a pleasant time in the camps, while the other Jews are forced to obey every ridiculous commands. Moreover, the Jewish dentist “had been running a private traffic of his own in the prisoners’ gold teeth” (Wiesel 60). The dentist took advantage of his position and attempted to make money off of the gold crown’s forcibly taken from the Jewish prisoners. This Jewish dentist had the power and ability to help other Jews, but he decided on exploiting them. Because of the Jewish members of concentration camps and their abuse of power, they are responsible for 10% of the
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