Dehumanization In Eli Wiesel's Night

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Night
In the novel Night, written by Eli Wiesel, shares traumatic events that occurred during the Holocaust. Night contains several significant events in which dehumanization is taking place. Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to feel they are worthless and meaningless to life. Jews were treated so poorly to the point they no were no longer looked at as humans.
The story contains times when the SS officials would shoot any Jew that was not in their place or call them certain things that would make them feel depressed. One example is when the character Eliezer and hid "block" were marching their way out of Buna and a SS officer had yelled out, "Faster you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs!" (Wiesel 85). This is a prime example of dehumanization, having the Jews feel like filthy dogs instead of human beings. The SS had no problem killing a Jew who was not keeping the same pace as the others . "They had orders to shoot anyone who could not sustain the pace. Their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of the pleasure. If one of us stopped for a second, a quick shot eliminated the filthy dog"(Wiesel 85)
When first arriving at the concentration camps, the Jews were immediately separated by men and …show more content…

Work makes you free" (Wiesel 40). The Jews were only given two options; to works as slaves or to be killed. " Work or crematorium—the choice is yours" (Wiesel 39). In this camp, the Jews were no longer called by their names. According to the novel, Eliezer stated, " I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name"( Wiesel 42). The stripping of their names is considered as dehumanization because the Germans were taking away their identities. Not only were the Jews treated so poorly to have them feel worthless, they also felt like they didn’t belong to this world by not having a name, peace, or

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