Jews at the railroad station before deportation. Puchov, Czechoslovakia, March 1942. Elie and his family go to a train station like this, yet they have no clue where they are heading to. This is where the real journey begins.
This week we read pages 1-27 (33-63) in Night by Elie Wiesel. When I hear the word Holocaust the first thing that comes to mind is why are we learning about this in The United States of America? We had nothing to do with this war and mass killing except when we were bombed by Japan. I thought that until we really looked into what the Holocaust was really all about. How close they got to conquering the entire world was horrifying.
Many parts in this book suck the joy and my love for humanity but the one part where I was on the edge of my seat was when all these Jews were being locked in by barbed-wired fences and they took it as a good thing. When you're reading this book you already know the outcome therefore ever wrong move these people make make me cringe. When Moishe the Beadle warned them I was hopeful but when they called him crazy and a madman I felt like going back to he past and screaming at them that Moishe the Beadle is right! Sadly, I can't and this story isn't written to be a cheerful story, in matter of fact Elie Wiesel must not have had mush of a good time writing this book. Elie having to relive all this events and then having to put them into words must have brought him back to all the death and fear that he witnessed. Just seeing the people deny that they were going to die, broke my heart, because we all know how its going to end.
The fact that there were multiple signs showing that the result of this isn't going to be good and that everyone ignores them adds that fear factor into the story. The first part is where Moishe the Beadle said that the only reason he came back was to tell them the dangers of the road ahead. The fact that he didn't care if he were dead or not, he just wanted his people to know what they were up against. The next sign that stood out to me was when all of a sudden the Hungarian police started to arrest Jews and taking them away. When they stared hearing this news they could have stared running. Another sign was the fact that they kept on thinking that the "Red Army" was coming to save them and that they should just stay where they are. They were oblivious to they fact that their own country was going to turn against them and dispose of them. There are man other instances where something didn't seem correct and they could have taken a hint from that incident.
When you look back again it mostly wasn't there fault. They didn't get to hear the secret information like the fact that their own country is going to go against them and they don't even know where that train is going to stop. History is written, even though I wish I could, we cannot rewrite it.
Many parts in this book suck the joy and my love for humanity but the one part where I was on the edge of my seat was when all these Jews were being locked in by barbed-wired fences and they took it as a good thing. When you're reading this book you already know the outcome therefore ever wrong move these people make make me cringe. When Moishe the Beadle warned them I was hopeful but when they called him crazy and a madman I felt like going back to he past and screaming at them that Moishe the Beadle is right! Sadly, I can't and this story isn't written to be a cheerful story, in matter of fact Elie Wiesel must not have had mush of a good time writing this book. Elie having to relive all this events and then having to put them into words must have brought him back to all the death and fear that he witnessed. Just seeing the people deny that they were going to die, broke my heart, because we all know how its going to end.
The fact that there were multiple signs showing that the result of this isn't going to be good and that everyone ignores them adds that fear factor into the story. The first part is where Moishe the Beadle said that the only reason he came back was to tell them the dangers of the road ahead. The fact that he didn't care if he were dead or not, he just wanted his people to know what they were up against. The next sign that stood out to me was when all of a sudden the Hungarian police started to arrest Jews and taking them away. When they stared hearing this news they could have stared running. Another sign was the fact that they kept on thinking that the "Red Army" was coming to save them and that they should just stay where they are. They were oblivious to they fact that their own country was going to turn against them and dispose of them. There are man other instances where something didn't seem correct and they could have taken a hint from that incident.
When you look back again it mostly wasn't there fault. They didn't get to hear the secret information like the fact that their own country is going to go against them and they don't even know where that train is going to stop. History is written, even though I wish I could, we cannot rewrite it.