History of the Holocaust
Memoirs are an important part that enlightens the understanding of the Holocaust. Night by Elie Wiesel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi are two prominent memoirs that provide insights on how people managed to deal with and survive the horrors around them during the Holocaust. Holocaust is a genocide that occurred during the second world war where millions of Jews were murdered. Germany and its collaborators carried out the Holocaust in various stages between 1941and 1945. Racism and antisemitism were the key factors that motivated the Germany powers and its collaborators to persecute the Jews in Europe. During the Holocaust era, mass shootings, discrimination, and persecution were prevalent across Europe. The Survival in Auschwitz is a memoir by a Jewish writer that was published in 1947. During the Holocaust era, Jews were being captured and taken to persecution camps by the Germany soldiers. The memoir by Primo Levi describes the kind of life experienced by the Jews incarcerated in the Auschwitz concentration camp. On the other hand, the Night by Elie Wiesel provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges encountered by the Jews at various camps during the Holocaust period. Night by Elie Wiesel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi memoirs enlightens the audience on how people dealt with the horrors of the Holocaust era.[unique_solution]
Summary of the Memoirs
The Night is narrated by Eliezer, a Jewish teenager who lives in Sighet, located in Hungarian Transylvania (Gale, 2017). He reads the Torah and the Cabbala. Due to his teacher’s deportation, Eliezer stops learning. His teacher, known as Moishe, later comes back, narrating how the German secret police force controlled his train taking everyone to the woods. Moishe states that the Gestapo methodologically slaughtered everyone, but people thought he was crazy, and they never believed him. During the spring season in the year 1944, Hungary was occupied by the Nazis. Later cruel measures were approved, forcing the Jews living in Eliezer’s hometown to move to the small ghettos in Sighet. They were then instructed to board on the cars used to ferry cattle, which was the origin of their scary journey. The Jews later arrived in Birkenau after a long tiresome journey without food. In Birkenau, females were separated from males. In the memoir Eliezer describes the selection process in which Jews were tested as an identification process of those who will be killed immediately and those to be subjected to work. (Wiesel, 2017). Eliezer and his father passed the process. On their way to the prison, they had to trip over a fire lit on the open pit, which was used by Nazis to burn babies. All the Jews who arrived were shaved, disinfected, stripped, and handled with a lot of cruelty. They were taken to Buna, a work camp where Eliezer was assigned to work in an electrical fitting factory. In the camp, the Jewish were exposed to beatings and continuous embracement. Eliezer was forced to give his golden tooth to a foreman who plucked it from his mouth using a corroded spoon. The foremen forced the prisoners to view a hanging body of fellow prisoners on the courtyard of the camp (Wyman, 2019). There were some occurrences in the camp where Gestapo would execute a manor on the basis of being rebellious within the camp. The conditions in the camps forced many prisoners to be cruel and to lose humanity. Fathers were left or harassed by their sons. Eliezer lost his humanity and faith in both God and the people surrounding him. Later the prisoners were transferred to Gewirtz, where most were faced with hunger and exhaustion, resulting in the death of many Jews.
Survival in Auschwitz refers to a memoir written by an Italian Jewish writer known as Primo Levi. The book is also titled as “If This Is a Man,” and it was published in the year 1947 (Kraus, 2017). The memoir describes Levi’s stay in the labor camp during world war two. Levi was hiding in the mountains in December 1943 with his fellow anti-fascists, when Fascist Militia from Italy attacked them. The soldiers took Levi to a detention camp because he was Jewish. Later the soldiers arrived in the camp announcing that all Jews will have to leave the camp. The soldiers give them a condition of killing ten Jews for every Jew who will not be available during departure. The prisoners were forced to board a crowded freight train where they traveled for a long period of time in harsh environments. On arrival, strong men and women were sent one way with both children and the elderly being sent on the other way mostly to the gas chambers. Levi, together with the other men, were put in the truck and transported to a labor camp located in Auschwitz named Buna. The soldiers forced them to strip, shave their heads, and wear a torn uniform (Eisen, 2020). Levi was tattooed his prison number on his arm. He was given a list of rules accompanied by his work schedule, where he had to carry heavy loads until sunset. The workers were not provided with essentials, and they had minimal food and water supply. Levi states that he detected starvation after the first day of work. Some prisoners traded their items for meals. During the first day of work, Levi injured his leg and was sent to Ka-Be medical clinic, where he stays for twenty days as his leg heals. He later went back to the camp, where he was given a new work schedule. In August, Russians attacked a close camp, which led to the closure of the factory. Levi was able to meet a friend during the raid known as Lorenzo, who helped him get food supply. In preparation for the winter season, prisoners are forced to relocate to the huts. Prisoners are worried about a possible execution process. Later Levi caught scarlet fever and was left behind by his friend Alberto during the evacuation of 20000 prisoners. The camp was bombed in January, leaving some prisoners to sleep in the cold. After a few days, Levi united the other prisoners who were left behind by providing them with food.
Comparison of the Memoirs
Comparison between Night by Elie Wiesel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi enhances the understanding of the Holocaust era. While comparing the two memoirs, the age at which the two authors narrated their memoirs cannot be ignored (Click, 2017). Elie Wiesel narrated his memoir, while he was 14 years of age. On the other hand, Primo Levi was 24 years old, when he was narrating the Survival in the Auschwitz memoir. At 14 years of age, Elie Wiesel was a teenager, when he was making his narration. Drawing from the human development theory, teenager decisions can easily vary based on their emotions. Therefore, Wiesel experienced misfortunes, while narrating about the Holocaust, which was a difficult situation during the Second World War period. Primo was an adult, while he was narrating his memoir. As a result, Primo accurately recorded the situations of the Holocaust without emotional influence. For instance, Primo Levi narrates how he was arrested from Italy and put in the concentration camp in his memoir. The Night by Elie Wiesel describes Jewish religious practices. Wiesel grew in a religious environment in Hungary, where he undertook Jewish teachings from his teacher. The Jewish religion had united the Jews. When Wiesel’s religious instructor brought the news about the Germany persecution, the Jews could not believe in his information because of their focus on religion. Contrary, the Survival in Auschwitz by Levi does not provide the religion background. As a result, Levi’s memoir does not extensively enlighten the audience on the impact of the Jewish religious teachings during the Holocaust period.
Night by Elie Weisel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi describes the experiences of the Holocaust era that occurred during the second world war. Both memoirs concentrate on the suffering of the Jews in the hands of the Germany Nazis (Moscovici, 2019). Weisel describes how he was over-worked, while at the persecution camp. Similarly, Levi narrates on unimaginable conditions experienced by the Jewish prisoners at the Auschwitz camp. Weisel was arrested together with his father, mother, and sisters. On the other hand, Levi did not have family ties during the time of his arrest. Although Weisel had family support, while at the hands of the Germany persecutors, his memoir does not explain how hope enabled the Jews to survive during the Holocaust period. On the other hand, Levi, who had no family support during his persecution, describes hope as the key factor that ensured survival for humanity during the holocaust era. At some point, the cruelty of the Germany persecutors at the camps causes both Weisel and Levi to question their survival chances. Weisel and Levi have different first impressions of the Holocaust. Levi has a less horrific first impression of the Holocaust as compared to Weisel. Before Levi was arrested, he had already undergone four years of antisemitism. The fact that Levi experienced and escaped the antisemitism caused him to have a less horrific first impression of the Holocaust. Also, Levi was more mature, and he was able to control his emotions, when he first learned about the Holocaust. On the other hand, Weisel had a more horrific first impression of the Holocaust because of his tender age. Also, Weisel was much scared of the Holocaust at first because he had not gone through any persecution experience before the Holocaust. Both the Night by Elie Wiesel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi are stories of the two narrators who survived concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the second world war.
How Memoirs Enlighten on the Holocaust Survival
The Holocaust survivors used different strategies ranging from daring, cunning, coping, optimism and hope, cooperation to evasion and resistance (Caraveo, 2016). The memoir by Levi describes various resistance movements that were against Nazi Germany. Before Levi was arrested and taken to the concentration camp, he was a member of a resistance movement that was against the German persecutors. Through resistance, the Germany persecutors could not access some regions in Europe that had resisted their racial laws. Through resistance, some Jews managed to harm the Germany perpetrators, hence escaping from the concentration camps. Unity was crucial for survival during the Holocaust period. In the Night by Elie Wiesel, the narrator describes how he was united with his father during their time at the concentration camp. Wiesel’s father used to physically support Weisel after long working hours. Similarly, Wiesel used to support his father in different situations, while under the hands of the Germany perpetrators. Mutual support and unity were essential for survival during the abnormal times of the Holocaust. Therefore, the Holocaust survivors embraced unity during the persecution era. Collaboration to evasion was key for Holocaust survival. Levi’s memoir describes how some Jewish Communities collaborated to migrate from their geographical locations. Some Jews used to fake their identity and move to non-Jewish regions, which facilitated their survival (Kimchi, 2017). Therefore, cooperation during evasion assisted Jews in escaping the wrath of the Germany perpetrators. From the Night by Elie Weisel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, most of the Jews adopted resistance or evasion. The Jews who had some concepts on the Christianity mainstream culture preferred evasion. On the other hand, Jews who had actively participated in politics before the start of the second world war preferred resistance as their survival means.
Hope and perseverance played a critical role among the Holocaust survivors. Through hope, the Jews who were in the concentration camps were optimistic that one day they would have freedom. At the concentration camps, the Jews used to undergo severe suffering. The prisoners would suffer physical beating from the Germany guards (Wyman, 2019). The Jewish prisoners were subjected to long working hours. As Wiesel narrates, some of the Jews died as a result of being over-worked. Therefore, good physical health with high immunity allowed some Jews to survive the Germany brutality. Wiesel’s father died from physical injuries. Also, lazy Jewish prisoners used to be killed during working hours. Since Wiesel was physically fit, he survived the horrors of the Holocaust. Hope allowed the Jews who were in the camps to remain optimistic. In his memoir, Levi narrates how fellow Jews used to be shot in his presence. Witnessing mass killings can cause individuals to lose hope and omit suicide. However, Levi remained hopeful that he was going to survive the Holocaust. Through perseverance, the Holocaust survivors dealt with all the hardships of the Holocaust era. Both Levi and Wiesel persevered all the Holocaust suffering and remained hopeful until the time, when the American army rescued them from the Germany persecutors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Night by Elie Wiesel and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi are memoirs that provide a clear understanding of how the Holocaust survivors dealt with the horrors of the Holocaust. The Holocaust era took place during the second world and exposed Jews communities in mass killings and severe persecution. The Jews experienced suffering under the hands of the Germany perpetrators. Both Levi and Wiesel survived the brutality of the Germany perpetrators and dealt with all the horrors of the Holocaust. The two memoirs narrate the experiences of the Jews during the Holocaust period at the concentration camps. Wiesel was a teenager at the time he wrote his memoir, while Levi was an adult. Also, Wiesel had a more horrific first experience of the Holocaust as compared to Levi. Resistance and evasion were two major strategies that allowed some Jews to survive the Holocaust horrors. Through hope and perseverance, Levi and Wiesel survived the Holocaust. Both the memoir by Wiesel and Levi accounts on the factors that enabled the Holocaust survivors to manage and deal with the Holocaust hardships.
References
Caraveo, J. D. (2016). Refuse to go Quietly: Jewish Survival Tactics During the Holocaust.
Click, J. (2017). Elie Wiesel’s Unique Journey to Redemption.
Eisen, M. (2020). By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz. Harlequin.
Gale, C. (2017). A Study Guide (New Edition) for Elie Wiesel’s” Night”. Gale, Cengage.
Kimchi, R. (2017). Altering Hebrewness: Holocaust-Survivor Characters in Under the Domim Tree (Etz Ha’domim Tafus). Jewish Film & New Media, 5(2), 143-160.
Kraus, P. L. (2017). The Issue of Survival and the Human Condition in Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz as Interpreted through the Oxford English Dictionary. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 6(3), 83-85.
Moscovici, C. (2019). Holocaust Memories: A Survey of Holocaust Memoirs, Histories, Novels, and Films. Rowman & Littlefield.
Wiesel, E. (2017). Night: A Memoir. Hill and Wang.
Wyman, D. S. (2019). The abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. Plunkett Lake Press.
Wyman, D. S. (2019). The abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. Plunkett Lake Press.