MollyKendrick

EnglishII
Night
Essay
25March2015
DehumanizationofJews
Dehumanization,itismorethanjustonestepingenocide,itisonestepcloserto
genocide.Dehumanizationistheactbyonegrouptodenyhumannesstoanother
group.AnexamplewouldbewhentheNazistreatedJewsliketheywerelessthan
human.Therearemanydifferentwaystodehumanizeagroupofpeople,buteachway
producesthesameoutcome,extermination.Inthebook
Night
byElieWiesel,thetheme
ofdehumanizationisevidentthroughtheghettos,theJewsbeingsenttoworkcamps,
andstarvation.
AllJewswereforcedtoliveincertainneighborhoodsthatwereblockedfromthe
restofthecity.Theseareaswerecalledghettos,onlyJewslivedintheseghettos.
BecauseJewswereforcedtomovetodesignatedneighborhoods,theyhadtoleave
theirhousesbehindalongwithmostoftheirpossessions.Theluckyonesalreadylived
intheareathatwouldsoonbeaghetto,butsoontheysharedtheirhomewiththeless
fortunate.Inthebook
Night
Elieandhisfamilyweretheluckyonesbecausetheirhouse
wasalreadyintheghetto(Wiesel1112).Thisisanexampleofdehumanization,
becausetheNazisweretakingJewshomesawayfromthemtodenythemofhuman
rights.

Anotherexampleofdehumanizationinthebook
Night
iswhenJewswereforced
ontoconvoysandlatercattlecarstobesenttoworkcamps(Wiesel1624).These
peoplewereforcedoutoftheirhomesandtheJewswererequiredtogiveupall
personalpossessions.Afterbeingremovedfromtheirownhomes,theseJewsalso
gaveupalltheyowned.Eventhoughtheywerenotwillingtheywereleftwithnothing.
TheNazisdidthistomaketheJewsthinksincetheyhadnothingleftthattheywere
nothing.HitlerwantedtoridGermanyoftheinferiorraceofJews.Hitlerdehumanized
theJewsbecause,iftheJewsweretreatedasanimalstheywouldseethemselvesas
animals.TheJewshadnothinglefttolivefor,noteventheirreligion.Mostofthem
reliedontheirdailysouprationjusttostayalive.
TheJewsweretreatedlikeanimals,andtheywerestarved.Themostcommon
causesofdeathduringtheholocaustforJewswerestarvationanddehydrationdueto
diarrhea.Eachday,intheworkcamps,Jewsweregivenonebowlofsoupandone
rationofbread.Bystarvingthisrace,theNazisweredeprivingJewsofhumanqualities
andrights.Inthebook
Night
Eliesays,Atthatmomentintime,allthatmatteredtome
wasmydailybowlofsoup,mycrustofstalebread.Thebread,thesoupthoseweremy
entirelife.Iwasnothingbutabody.Perhapsevenless:afamishedstomach.The
stomachalonewasmeasuringtime.Eliewasbeingtreatedasifhewerelessthana
human,Eliejustwantedmorefoodtokeephimselfalive(Wiesel52).
ItisobviousthatJewsweredehumanized,NazistreatedtheJewsasiftheyhad
nolifeorpurpose.TheJewsweredeniedhumanness,andbasicnecessities.Hitler
orderedtheNazistoexterminateallJewsfromGermanyandothercountriesnearby.

AfterallElieandhisfamilydidnotevenliveinGermany.Himandhisfamilylivedin
Sighet,TransylvaniainRomania.Elielivedabout400milesawayfromtheworkcamp
thathewastakento.Thiscampwasoneofthelargest,itwasAuschwitz.Eliewasina
completelydifferentcountryandhestillwasnotsafefromHitlerandtheNazis.
Dehumanizationisevidentthroughghettos,theJewsbeingsenttoworkcamps,and
starvationinthebook
Night
byElieWiesel.