David Jurek

Does God really exist? Where was he when 6 million Jews died, Where was he when he

was most needed? Do people actually believe in a higher power? Throughout the book, God is

mentioned plenty of times, some people in the camps have lost faith due to the fact that nothing

stopped Germany from exterminating 6+ million Jews, the only person who were making

changes and making decisions were the Nazis. God is questioned a lot of times during the

book, and from Wiesel’s point of view, you would have to have a lot of faith in order to still

believe in him when people were in the camps.

“The joy in his eyes was gone, He no longer sang, he no longer mentioned God or

Kabbalah, he only spoke on what he has seen” This quote is a good example to back up “Does

God really Exist”? The quote was about Moshe, who was a really religious man, no longer

speaks of God or Kabbalah. He witnessed the extermination of his fellow Jews and that caused

him to give up hope and faith in God. The Jews were killed by the German Gestapo. Moshee no

longer was the man he was before, he knew what he saw, his faith in God after what he had

seen, was no longer with him. If God really existed why would he let those Jews be killed, why

couldn’t he just pull of a ‘Miracle” and save those Jews who were about to get killed. A man can

only take so much, In Moshe's case he was let down by God.

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long

night seven times sealed.Never shall I forget that smoke.Never shall I forget the small faces of

the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.Never shall I forget

those flames that consumed my faith forever.Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that

deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.Never shall I forget those moments that

murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.Never shall I forget those

things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.Never” This quote is quite long

but it is my favorite quote, Eliezer not only saw his Jews murdered by he also thought that God
was murdered as well, as he is nowhere to be found in times of despair. He said that God was

murdered because I think that Eliezer has lost faith in God. The camp destroyed his innocence

and beliefs. Some people say that God is forbidden in the camp since that's why he did not help

any Jews, but in reality God is just an imaginary person to keep people motivated and moving

forward.

“Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused

thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day

and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created

Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him:

Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be

tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the

furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar” In

this quote Eliezer is not denying that God does not exist but that the God he knew and

cherished is dead, that he was killed in the camps. Eliezer is not an atheist, In this quote it

seems as he is questioning some other God that is within the camp. “What are you my God?,

this seems to be the question he asked, I interpreted that quote as if he found a new God, but

he does not like him, he does not want to pray to this God. God to Eliezer is not someone he

wants to pray to.

“And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no

longer believed."Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi

Eliahou's son has done” Eliezer indeed in fact lost his faith in God, but he still prays for strength,

and even more strength to keep himself from leaving his father. He also prays for his humanity

as he is losing it since he is in the Camp. The quote related to the Topic” Does God exist?”

because even though Eliezer has lost hope he still prays to someone. I feel like Eliezer had no

one to turn to so he had to pray to some God.

Basically, God is nowhere to be found during those hard time for the Jews. The Camp
killed all the beliefs the Jews had in a God, God is supposed to be merciful, kind, powerful, but

there is no proof that he actually exists and If he actually does exist why hasn’t he helped

anyone during the Holocaust, why didn't he save 6 millions lives?