In every chapter prior to Chapter 16, Levi depicts everyday life in the Lager, and he describes in great detail how he managed to survive through means like the safety acquired from his work assignment, friendships with Lorenzo and Alberto, etc. The Nazis’ primary goal was to destroy and exterminate the Jews. From Levi’s descriptive account, one gains a better understanding of the Nazi policy of Jewish dehumanization. The excruciating circumstances required the prisoners to adapt to life in Auschwitz, in order for survival. But like I said earlier, Levi was more ashamed over the fact that he was too focused on survival and realized that they lost his humanity along the way.
The main theme in “Free Burgers for Life”, by Ryan Boudinot, is that it is dangerous to be too reliant on others because eventually, everyone will have to survive alone. This is important because everyone will need to undergo some sort of change in their lifetime. Boudinot uses Big Dave’s restaurant to give Elliot a place to go to every day, making him too reliant on a place he will someday have to leave, giving him too much power for his own good. When he wins a drawing, he gets a free deluxe cheeseburger,
Night, and One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich, both show the struggle for human dignity. The holocaust is one of the biggest removals of human dignity ever known to history, but surprising to many people, not the only one. For example, One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich is one mans adventure through a Russian labor camp, in which they are required to strenuous labor all day long. In both of these novels, the leaders of the camps do an amazing job in completely destroying the dignity of the many human that are being held against their will. Ellie Wiesel experiences what many people cannot even imagine is possible, at a very young age.
Jewish businesses along with almost every synagogue in Germany were damaged or completely destroyed. As the Nuremberg Laws felt insufficient in solving the “Jewish question”, and with the occupation of eastern Poland after September 1939, which held about two million Jews, the treatment of the Jews became an urgent matter to Adolf
Holocaust A historic event that shocked the whole world, and now is an important event. The Holocaust… What comes to your mind when you think about it? the massive genocide that occurred to the Jews? Maybe the gas chambers? One of the important days in history was the holocaust, because massive numbers of innocent Jewish lives were lost.
The act of war, too often, has been mankind first choice for conflict resolution. In the wake of any War there have been numerous casualties and victims. World War II demonstrated a total disregard for humanity and resulted in the deaths and victimization of millions of Jews. Primo Levi’s autobiography, Survival in Auschwitz, provides a personal account of the inhumanity and victimization experienced by a Jewish prisoner of a Nazi concentration camp. Primo Levi can be described as a victim and survivor of World War II.
The thoughts of his friends degrading him for eating “Asian” food for lunch dwelled in his subconscious for months, or perhaps even years. Pedro’s solution was simple: get rid of the traditional Asian food and eat whatever everyone else eats, which was Lunchables. He simply wanted to fit in and not be teased anymore. He felt utter humiliation, so refraining himself from bringing what his mom packed him for
The story is powerful and affecting through the negligence of the Nazis. In Night, the people are forced to adapt to this horrific situation by focusing on the needs of survival, resisting faith and religion, and simply becoming accustomed to their surroundings. The simple task of the prisoners in concentration camps is to survive the inhumane acts the Nazis perform. Enduring the torment alone would not relieve them of death, but would facilitate them to live. When first placed in this situation, it would seem almost impossible to be able to live in these circumstances.
The crimes committed during the Holocaust devastated most European Jewish communities and eliminated hundreds of Jewish communities in occupied eastern Europe entirely. The Holocaust must be remembered as a unique atrocity, distinct from any other. To compare the Holocaust with Hiroshima, for example, denies and hides the historic role of German and Christian anti-Semitism that lead to and helped Hitler's theories. Therefore, such a comparison shows that Americans are no worse than the Nazis, and that Hitler was no worse than Truman. So how could we forget about something so tragic?
Marty, a detainee in the Lodz Ghetto and a prisoner in Auschwitz Concentration Camp, went with me on The March of the Living last spring. This two week trip takes teens from all over the world to the camps of Poland, to witness first hand what horrors took place there. For me, Marty is a living testament to how the madness of one man almost erased a population, and how if it weren’t for the bravery and courage of a few, the world would have lost an entire generation of life and culture. Remembering the Holocaust is something that cannot be looked on as a chore. Instead, it must be seen as an obligation to all of humanity.