Never Shall I Forget Elie Wiesel Analysis

608 Words2 Pages

The Holocaust was the horrific genocide of millions of European Jews and other minorities during World War II. Roughly 6 million Jews were brutally murdered by Hitler and his wicked followers all throughout Europe because Hitler wanted to eliminate anyone who was deemed a threat to their “superior” Aryan race. Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's loss of World War I and all of their social, political, and economic problems even though only 0.8% of the Jewish population lived in Germany at that time. One major part of the Holocaust was concentration camps. However, when people think of concentration camps, they generally think about Auschwitz or Majdanek, and while these camps were extremely important and should certainly be remembered, there were also hundreds of other lesser-known concentration camps that …show more content…

In one of his most famous poems, “Never Shall I Forget”, Weisel describes his traumatic time in the camp and claims he will “never forget” it, even if he desperately wants to. Through powerful use of figurative language, Weisel explores his haunting memories and urges mankind to never forget or deny the atrocities of the Holocaust. Buchenwald was located in a forest about 5 miles northwest of Weimar, Germany and was operational from 1937 until 1945. According to Purdy from the Salem Press Encyclopedia, “Buchenwald was a work camp rather than a death camp. However, 56,565 prisoners died there.” The camp’s population heavily increased after Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass), although women were not allowed into the camp until 1943. These prisoners were usually people of the Jewish faith, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, resistance fighters and more. In early 1941, scientists started experimenting on prisoners in Buchenwald. However, most of the experiments failed, resulting in hundreds of unnecessary deaths. These experiments and the camp were directed by Karl Otto and Ilse Koch from 1939 until

More about Never Shall I Forget Elie Wiesel Analysis

Open Document