Lies

In this post Monica, I really want to focus on lies. Lies, as clearly shown in the second section of Night, is a useful tool. It can make people believe what you want to believe. It makes people do what you want. But really, if I wanted to control a person, like the leaders of the concenration camps, I would lie. In Night, lies are used to tell the Jewish people that everything is going to be ok, when it clearly isn't going to be. When the cattle cars stop, the Jews bribed a citizen of a city to tell them what was going on. They are told that they have arrived at a labor camp where they will be treated well and kept together as families. That, is just one big lie. Just read this quote that Elie says about his first night in the camp. "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."
What these people did was just absolutely horrible. What kind of people do this? They made them burn eachothers bodies also. The part that they were going to be kept together as a family was also a lie, because right when they got to the camp the woman in Elie's family were taken away and Elie said, "At that moment I did not know that that was the last time I would see my mother and my sister's again." It is just horrible. It's hard for me to put my mind around. Is it for you Monica? This kind of stuff, it just breaks my heart reading it. I feel completely awful for every single person that had ever been in those camps. It makes me wonder what is wrong with this world.

Monica Corcoro. Posting 1. Night

Abby, I do agree with you how the Jews could have avoided the holocaust if they knew how bad it was. Moshe did warn them about the struggles they would have to overcome, but because all those actions seem too horrendous to be true, they doubted his knowledge. I think the only reason why the people of Sighet were very calm about the situation is because if they did believe it was true, it wouldn’t be as bad as what Moshe the Beadle said it was. He was trying to warn and prevent the whole town from encountering what he had seen, but no; they didn’t bother to understand how in deep trouble they are in. To answer your question, Abby, I do believe that if the people were wise enough to hear out Moshe’s warnings, they would be able to avoid the holocaust; or at least hide from it for a long period of time.

I do agree with Abby how the holocaust is one terrible event in history. The Jews were tormented for something they didn’t even deserve. Because of this cruelty, it causes some to have disputes and feuds with each other and some to become insane. Madame Schachter eventually snaps out of it while in oppressive treatment and starts screaming every night. And because she did this continuously the following nights, the rest of the people in the train cart decide to tie her up and beat her until she would become quite. By having people tormented together in such unlivable conditions, I think they will eventually crack under the pressure and eventually exterminate each other.

Night First Post

Monica, as I am reading Night I can't stop thinking about one thing. Some Jewish people could have tried to avoid the holocaust, and that could have easily happened in the town of Sighet. After the Hungarians banned all foreign Jews, Eliezer's mentor Moshe the Beadle gets taken away. And when he comes back he told everyone about what was happening. About the terror and the chaos that was happening in the place where they took him. But no one believed, Monica. What would have happened if they did believe him? Could they have escaped? They just called him a lunatic. A lot of people could have avoided death if they just listened to him. I feel bad for Moshe. Just because he wasn't as well of as a lot of people in his city people looked down upon him. Even when he was trying to help. What do you think Monica? Do you think that the Jews in Sighet could possibly have avoided the holocaust? I just have this feeling that it could have been avoided for some people.
When the Gestapo comes to Sighet, it reminds me of the Indians in South Africa and how they had to have ideas with them at all times. Except him the Jews place they had to wear yellow starts to identify who they were. This is discriminating against their religion. It's what we have seen all throughout history. But, Hitler was always being racist toward people. If they didn't have the blonde hair and yellow eyes he considered them not perfect. It's interesting at what lengths the Hungarian government went to keep the Jews under control. They even separated Jews from the rest of the population of the cities, putting them in the Ghettos (Holocaust).
Reading this book is just sad. We all know what is going to happen, but Elie's family seems to almost not be concerned.

"Holocaust Badges." Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Isreali Enterprise. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. .