Monday, April 18, 2011

Night by Elie Wiesel

The book Night by Elie Wiesel is one of the most impacting books I have ever read.  I feel that since Elie was one of the prisoners in World War II he was able to portray the evils of the concentration camps even further than anyone else might have been able to.
     This book is about a young Jewish boy of only 14 named Eliezer Wiesel whos' family was taken away from their home first from their home to the ghetto, then from the ghetto to a concentration camp.  Nobody believed the rumors about the concentration camps and how horrible they were until they actually saw them.
     Within the first twenty four hours of being at the concentration camp called Auschwitz, Elie realizes the real evil of Adolf Hitler. In that short day, just that first twenty four hours, he is changed from an innocent boy to a responsible man, having seen all the starving children and other prisoners begging them to do what they can to get out of the camp while they still could. 
     Knowing what was really happening during these years, and seeing the war from a prisoners point of view really brings tears to my eyes.  I still do not understand how anything so harsh and soulless could be done to any person, no matter what the crime.  To read this book is to change your whole perspective.