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Not Human Anymore The victims of the Holocaust went through dehumanization, which basically turned them into nothing. If you recollect the events in the Holocaust and in the book, you will find that they were not treated as humans like they were before. You can see that they are not called by name any longer, “The three ‘veteran’ prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arm”(42). That quote alone specifically states that they were now known by numbers. Another way the Nazis used dehumanization is by making them march. “Run! And we ran”(36). Not only does this symbolize physically running for their life, but everyday, a new struggle, running every single day. Emotionally, mentally, and physically. When the Nazis transported
They were treated like animals instead of humans. Dehumanization of the camps is added to the novel to allow the reader to get a more in-depth and realistic look into the tragic times for many Jews.
The violent actions of the Germans during this event force an image upon them that conveys the message that the Germans had little respect for the life of a person, specifically that of a follower of Judaism, and their capability to act viciously. If the Germans are acting so cruel and begin to act this way as an instinct towards the Jews, they are losing the ability to sympathize with other people. This would be losing the one thing that distinguishes a human from any other species, and this quote is an example of the dehumanization of the victim, as well as the perpetrator. Later on in Night, all the Jewish prisoners discover their fate at the camps and what will happen to people at the crematorium. They respond by saying to the people around them that they “...can’t let them kill us like that, like cattle in the slaughterhouse” (Wiesel 31). This simile develops the theme by comparing the Jewish prisoners to cattle in a slaughterhouse and emphasizes what little value their lives had to the Germans, implying they are not worthy of human qualities. The Germans are once again not able to emphasize with the Jews that are around them and being murdered, which over the course of the novel leads to them being
When the sirens went off, the prisoners were commanded to abandon all activities and take a position. A cauldron of soup is left in the middle of the eatery. Hundreds of Jews stared at the food with immense hunger, but no one dared try to get some. One man fell victim. "Poor hero, committing suicide for a ration of soup!" (57). The Jews are so poorly treated that the man was willing to risk his life for some food. The act cost him his life. Another Jewish boy was found beating his father for bread crusts. The treatments the Jews received made them turn against their own. They did everything for their well-being. Elie did a remarkable job on Night to reveal the dehumanizing procedures they experienced. It is something that the Nazis plotted against the people they imprisoned. The tattooing of numbers on the arms of the prisoners, something that Eliezer notes, is of extreme importance. The beatings, the commands to do the irrational thing, as well as forcing them to believe that they were of no value are examples of dehumanization. The Nazis did not overpower the Jews because they were better than them or stronger than them. They beat the Jews because they were able to silence them with the way they were treated. Whether it is neglecting their opinions, or treating them with disrespect. Just like the Germans did to their prisoners. Wiesel's work reminds us that anytime a voice is silenced, dehumanization is the
Murders inflicted upon the Jewish population during the Holocaust are often considered the largest mass murders of innocent people, that some have yet to accept as true. The mentality of the Jewish prisoners as well as the officers during the early 1940’s transformed from an ordinary way of thinking to an abnormal twisted headache. In the books Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi and Ordinary men by Christopher R. Browning we will examine the alterations that the Jewish prisoners as well as the police officers behaviors and qualities changed.
Primo Levi, in his novel Survival in Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted upon the prisoners of the concentration camp by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes “the denial of humanness” constantly forced upon the prisoners through similes, metaphors, and imagery of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization (“Dehumanization”). He makes his readers aware of the cruel reality in the concentration camp in order to help them examine the psychological effects dehumanization has not only on those dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. He establishes an earnest and reflective tone with his audience yearning to grasp the reality of genocide.
On their way to the concentration camp, a German officer said, “’There are eighty of you in the car… If anyone is missing, you’ll all be shot like “dogs” ”’ (Wiesel 24). This shows that the Germans compared the Jews to dogs or animals, and that the German have no respect towards the Jews. Arrived at the concentration camp, the Jews were separated from their friends and family. The first thing of the wagon, a SS officer said, “’Men to the left! Women to the right!”’ (Wiesel 29). After the separation, Eliezer saw the crematories. There he saw “’a truck [that] drew close and unloaded its hold: small children, babies … thrown into the flames.” (Wiesel 32). This dehumanize the Jews, because they were able to smell and see other Jews burn in the flames. Later on the Jew were forced to leave their cloth behind and have been promise that they will received other cloth after a shower. However, they were force to work for the new cloth; they were forced to run naked, at midnight, in the cold. Being force to work for the cloth, by running in the cold of midnight is dehumanizing. At the camp, the Jews were not treated like human. They were force to do thing that was unhuman and that dehumanized
Dehumanization is a theme that is explored effectively by the director through a variety of stylistic features. When Albert Laurent is having a conversation with Dr. Merrick, an extreme close-up shot shows the branding on his hand that he had received through enslavement from his childhood. The clones have also received brands on their wrists to help with identification. This scene helped capture the dehumanization of the clones by relating the way a slave is treated to the way the clones are treated. The scene is also influenced by the ways the Jews were treated in the holocaust, who were also branded on the entry to concentration camps. After this component of the movie, the audience is left feeling empathy for the clones, because they know
There are many negative effects that the holocaust had on the people who lived through it can be summed up in one word; torture. The survivors of the Holocaust were constantly abused, and weren't treated like equals nor humans, but like animals. In this result, many people controlled by the Holocaust had been better beaten to death. According to the three texts, these survivors were abused, lost loved ones, and were treated like animals.
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, it talks about the holocaust and what it was like being in it. The Germans were trying to make the German race the supreme race. To do this they were going to kill off everyone that wasn’t a German. If you were Jewish or something other than German, you would have been sent to a concentration camp and segregated by men and women. If you weren’t strong enough you were sent to the crematory to be cremated. If you were strong enough you were sent to work at a labor camp. With all the warnings the Jewish people had numerous chances to run from the Germans, but most ignored the warnings.
anymore. I was just a Jew. He put the blame on me and my people for war and everything bad. He made mean men come and place yellow stars on us so everyone knew who we were. People started treating me bad when they saw that. My mother and father and the other grown ups were banned from their rights such as owning businesses, government service, and marrying citizens that weren't Jewish.. In November of 1938, they found enjoyment in the destruction of our synagogues, our homes, and our businesses in Kristallnacht. Then after that is when I was banned from going to school and I was no longer allowed in places like grocery stores and barber shops. All because I was a Jewish child. Then one night, I was taken to a horrible place. It was so dehumanizing
World War II was a grave event in the twentieth century that affected millions. Two main concepts World War II is remembered for are the concentration camps and the marches. These marches and camps were deadly to many yet powerful to others. However, to most citizens near camps or marches, they were insignificant and often ignored. In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak introduces marches and camps similar to Dachau to demonstrate how citizens of nearby communities were oblivious to the suffering in those camps during the Holocaust.
People are afraid of things they don’t understand. During the time of Nazi rule in Germany, many people were afraid. Gestapo prowled the streets day and night, Jews were sent to concentration camps, and the swastika draped every building. Fear, specifically the fear of the Nazis, is a constant theme included in short writings of the time, and the novel Transit, by Anna Seghers.
...urvivors crawling towards me, clawing at my soul. The guilt of the world had been literally placed on my shoulders as I closed the book and reflected on the morbid events I had just read. As the sun set that night, I found no joy in its vastness and splendor, for I was still blinded by the sins of those before me. The sound of my tears crashing to the icy floor sang me to sleep. Just kidding. But seriously, here’s the rest. Upon reading of the narrators’ brief excerpt of his experience, I was overcome with empathy for both the victims and persecutors. The everlasting effect of the holocaust is not only among those who lost families÷, friends,
Prisoners and Jews taken during the war were forcibly relocated to areas with “no prepared lodging or sanitary facilities and little food for them” (Tucker). Often said the people were simply being held prisoner, many of them died; some from the brutality of the German soldiers and others through methods for mass killing (Tucker). The labor camps in the novel are based off of this concept; people being taken to an area with poor treatment and then being killed. Towards the beginning of the novel, June believes students who fail the trial go to labor camps and are never seen again (Lu 8). Later in the novel, Day enlightens June about the labor camps by telling her “the only labor camps are the morgues in hospital basements” (Lu 205). In both the labor camps featured in Legend and World War II prison camps, the people are told they are being taken away when in reality they are killed. Furthermore, in the Nazi Germany prison camps the people were living in poor conditions up until their death, similar to the individuals in the novel who were experimented on for the benefit of the military. The portrayal of labor camps as similar to wartime prison camps points out the brutality of the government towards its citizens, as well as, the way leaders tell lies to cover their unethical
the entire story remains focused on the central characters, in a specific location, and a fixed time period.” (“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”). Concentration camps are the camps where Jews were tortured. Only 10 percent of them were taken to these camps where they would be forced to work until death (McElroy 218). Would not one think that was inhumane? Working until death is also very inhumane because nobody has to make you work until you die. Someone torturing you is strongly inhumane with the fact that the Jews did not do anything wrong. The Nazis built lots of camps which were designed for murder. This required moving millions of Jews by train to the death camps. The people inside the box were quickly forced to make two single file lines. Then the policemen picked who would go to the camps and who would be killed immediately (McElroy 218). Inhumanity is happening here because people are not supposed to be sorted out like a bunch of cows. They are also not to make people squished in the train boxes. “Here men, we live by the law of taiga. But even here people manage to live.” “...do as much for the guards as you need, no more; always share your parcels with the right people - like your squad leader; watch out for your tools, hide them; obey- do not fight the authorities; don't hurry.” (“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”). People are getting so crazy that they have to