Papers Gallery

During the Holocaust, a lot of families had to be separated because of the concentration camps. The genocide was targeted towards the Jews. Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, is a survivor of the Holocaust. He experienced a lot of the traumatic events during this time which he wrote in his memoir. There is a variation of types of people; victim, perpetrator, bystander, upstander.
A victim is someone who is harmed as a result of someone else’s actions. An example of a victim in Night is Shlomo, Elie’s father. He is highly respected amongst the Jews. Elie works desperately to save his father’s life. Elie and Shlomo were almost at the end of the journey to be realized. “Eliezer…Eliezer…tell them not to beat me… I haven’t done anything …Why are they beating me?”(Wiesel 109) Shlomo said to Elie. Another victim in Night is Elie. Elie had to see his family die and even experienced near death moments. “Elie Wiesel is fifteen years old when he and his family are deported in May 1944 by the Hungarian gendarmerie and the German SS and police from Sighet to Auschwitz.His mother and younger sister perish; his two older sisters survive.” (www.ushmm.org) They both were put in danger because of the Jews. They were both victims…
A perpetrator is someone who carries out a harmful act. Idek is one of the perpetrators in Night. He abuses Elie and his father. ” ‘You old loafer!’ Idek yelled. ‘Is this what you call working?’ And he began beating him with an iron bar.”(Wiesel 54) Idek was beating Shlomo. Adolf Hitler is also a perpetrator. “The sole German objective in the region will be to liquidate all Jews who live in Arab countried under the patronage of Great Britain.”
(www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org) Adolf Hitler wanted to kill all Jews. Both of these perpetrator abuse Jews somehow. They are both insane.