Human Relationships In Night By Elie Wiesel

In his memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel describes the horrors he experienced during the Holocaust. One prominent theme throughout the work is the evolution of human relationships within the camp, specifically between fathers and sons. While they are marching between camps, Elie speaks briefly with Rabbi Eliahu, who lost sight of his son on the long journey. Elie says he has not seen the rabbi’s son, but after Rabbi Eliahu leaves, he remembers seeing the son. He realizes that the rabbi’s son did not lose track of his father but instead purposefully ran ahead thinking it would increase his chances of survival. Elie, who has abandoned nearly all of his faith in God, cannot help but pray, saying, “ ‘ Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done’ ” (Wiesel 91). In this moment, his most fervent hope is that he will remain loyal to his father and not let his selfishness overcome his dedication to his father. However, he is soon no longer able to maintain this hope.
When they arrive in Buchenwald, their final destination, Elie’s father is

I believe they are the very essence of what makes us human. However, in a place like the concentration camps, humanity is challenged by the urge to survive. When survival is of the utmost importance, we lose our capacity for empathy. I believe this was one of the Nazi’s most effective forms of dehumanization—when people are so preoccupied with their own survival that they must lose sight of the concerns of others, they cannot feel the kinds of empathy and compassion that are essential to a complete life. In addition, the guilt that the survivors must have felt, feeling that they had allowed themselves to become so self-centered, would have made it impossible for me to ever perceive myself as a good person again. The Nazi’s torture must have endured in the minds of survivors for the remainder of their