Finishing Night

As Night comes to a close, my heart just breaks. I can't believe the holocaust actually happened. It was a horrible thing. Those people were sitting in concentration camps, running non-stop, until they died. Many died from starvation and natural causes also. Monica, in your opinion, what is worse? Dieing from natural causes in the concentration camps or being killed?
Besides the killing, what the guards at the camp made people do was absolutely horrible. They made the Jewish people kill each other. A lot of the time they were killing their friends and families by throwing them into fire, like in the beginning of the book. But, maybe just like Gandhi said, we can be able to learn from the holocaust. (Freedom at Midnight)
The Nazis didn't think that Jewish people were the only bad, alien people. They also thought the Gypsies, Russian and Polish slaves, and the disabled were bad people. (Introduction to the holocaust) Today, we don't feel the same way. Our society feels bad for slaves and disabled people. It's like the complete opposite. Monica, do you think that the world learned from the Holocaust as Gandhi said? Maybe we just learned about how evil our world is too. Through first semester in Humanities we read books about hate and the evil that is in all human beings. It must be true if things like the holocaust is happening. And just like in Night, we can even see things like that happening today.
In Africa right now, people are killing Christians. It's pretty much like how the Nazis treated the Jews. They are a group of people against another one, killing people (Killings for Christianity). Do you see the situation in Africa to be like what is happening in Night? I do.
The worst part to happen in Night would have to be Elie's dad dieing. He worked so hard to try to keep himself and his father alive, and in the end it failed. His body even got robbed of the few possessions it had. Monica, what was the hardest part in Night to read for you?

Bibliography
"Holocaust History." Introduction to the Holocaust. United States Holocaust Museum. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

Humphrey, Mark. "Killings for Christianity." MarkHumphrys.com. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. http://markhumphrys.com/christianity.killings.html.

Monica Corcoro. Posting 4. Night.

Abby, you make a very good statement by saying that the Holocaust was a terrible event in world history. For one, the Jews did not even deserve to be tortured and killed because they did not even do or say anything to offend Hitler; for he just hated them and the religion for unreasonable reasons. And for the Nazis to support Hitler aren’t any better than Hitler himself. They followed his commands, and agreed with them; knowing already what the outcome would be. To answer your question about the cost of lives, Abby, I would say that dying from murder would be even worse. The reason for that is that person would be forced to die; which I think that should never happen. Death should happen for a certain reason, and by force, accident, or planned murder should not be the right way to pass away.

The death of Eliezer’s father was quite depressing, I agree, which is why I too think it is the worst part of the book. Although it is quite redundant to what you said, but Eliezer and his father tried so hard to keep each other together; considering they already lost 2 other members of their family at the beginning of their journey at the concentration camps. I honestly felt really bad for Eliezer because he became lost and unstable. He almost felt like he didn’t know what to do and he couldn’t go on. Although, part of him did feel like he could be better without his father, he felt devastated that he had to leave behind most of his life with his father.

As I said before, this event was one of the many cruel events that ever occurred in world history, and I honestly hope an event such as this one does not happen again. To answer your question Abby, I do not think the world learned their lesson quite yet. What I mean is that everywhere around the world, there is still some mistreatment of citizens by police officials; which is similar to the Nazis and the Jews; but on broader terms.

Monica Corcoro. Posting 3. Night.

Many things have crossed my mind about this novel, but one thing that really stood out for me was the strong faith that Eliezer and his dad had in them. “My God, Lord of the Universe, give me strength...” “Where he is? This is where—hanging in the gallows.” “And I, who believe that God is love...” All of these quotes represent how much Eliezer has grown in his faith and how he trusts in the figure he chooses to believe in.

Not only do strong faith in God helps Eliezer and his father overcome the hardships, but their strong faith in both their inner-selves and in each other flourished. When they lost the rest of their family, whom is Eliezer’s mother and little sister, their faith in each other has grown abundantly. Abby, you are right by saying that they are very fortunate by staying together throughout their encounters in the concentration camps. “We had already suffered so much, endured so much together. This was not the moment to separate” is what Eliezer said about him and his father. He knew that he and his father have gone through so much together, that he could not give up on losing him at that point.

I do agree with you of what Eliezer might have felt when his father was being tortured for asking to use the bathroom. It was very unnecessary and cruel of them to abuse him like that for something harmless such as that. I find it very sad how there was nothing to stop or prevent the Nazis from doing so, and all Eliezer could do was to stand there and watch his father get tortured.

Monica Corcoro. Posting 2. Night.

Abby, I do believe there were many lies told throughout this novel; however, not all of them were lies, depending on where and who the lies came from. You bring up a good point by talking about the Jews bribing a village person for a false fact. They did not end up in a well-treated labor camp. Instead, they ended up in a concentration camp where Jews were to be burned. Although there are multiple events where Jews are being lied to, I believe it is mainly the other way around. In Birkenau, Eliezer, his father, and many others are advised by other prisoners to do and to not do certain actions so that they can avoid being killed by the Nazis. Those advised survival tactics included to not rely in rebellion but on faith, and to do whatever they are advised to do by the Nazis. This would prevent Eliezer and his father to disperse into humanity, just like what happened to Eliezer’s mother and sister. If Eliezer and his father did not know about this information, they would have not been able to survive as long as they would have.

Another thing is that everyone who was on their side was telling the truth…they just decided not to believe the truth; and that is where they pay the price. Referring back to your previous post, Abby, you stated that the Jews could have avoided this Holocaust if they had just listened to Moshe the Beadle. Well, Moshe did not tell a lie about this holocaust; he was telling the complete truth.

Night Selections

In the third section of Night, I see what all of society does. The guards just do it more drastically. It's selection. It's picking on people because of the way they look. In Night, they pick out the weaklings, and kill them because they are of no use. The thing is, this happens every day on Earth, just not as drastic. Some people don't get picked to be on a team. Some people are made fun of. It's a sad thing, but it's what every society does.
Another thing that I noticed is a real sense of family. Elie and his dad are really close, they support each other every step of the way. They are lucky in that way. With all the people in the concentration camps, it's a miracle that they were able to stay together. But as we are reading, we do see disappointment and shamefulness. I'm talking about the part where Elie's dad asked to go to the bathroom, but got beaten. That moment I found to be emotional. What did you think of that Monica? That moment when Elie couldn't help his dad was horrible. I think that's something that a lot of people can understand. There's always that moment where you can do nothing about it, but you just have to watch what is happening. Except Elie has it way worse. Here is a quote I found that I think supports what I said. "had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near and had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival. I had done well to forget that. And I was glad that Rabbi Eliahou should continue to look for his beloved son. And, in spite of myself, a prayer rose in my heart, to that God in whom I no longer believed. My God, Lord of the Universe, give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahou’s son has done."