Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

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Dehumanization is the idea of diabolizing a group of people as less than human. This often leads to violations of human rights and equalities. Dehumanization is a step in the process of genocide, human rights violations, violence, or war crime because it allows for the murderers to believe they are not killing people, rather something of less importance. It is a way of trying to cover guilt when horrible acts against humanity occur. For example, with the Hutu and Tutsi conflict, the Tutsi’s were considered cockroaches or even trees that needed to be cut down. Both of these are primary examples of dehumanization that made it easier for Hutus to preform genocide against the Tutsis. Particularly with the Holocaust, Hitler had many different ways …show more content…
It is impossible to completely strip a person of their feelings or having emotions. In Night by Elie Wiesel, there were instances when a slight amount of guilt could be seen in the Nazis. This was especially prominent when the young pipel was executed. “This time, the Lagerkapo refused to act as executioner” (Wiesel 64). Of all the Nazis, the Lagerkapo would be one of the last to feel any emotion considering they are the primary executers; however, in this situation, the Lagerkapo came to a realization that what was being done was extremely wrong and he was unable to go through with the execution, instead he had others commit this crime for him. Although dehumanization of the Jewish people led to mass killings, the Nazis were still aware to some extent of the awful crimes they were …show more content…
The Nazis failed to recognize the Jews as actual human beings with emotions, feelings, families, and lives. ““There are eight of you in the car,” the German officer added. “If anyone goes missing you will all be shot, like dogs”” (Wiesel 24). In this situation, Jewish people were being crammed on train cars like cattle in order to be transported. Not only were the Jewish people thought of as dogs but they even were renamed as numbers. “I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name” (Wiesel 42). This act of renaming people was the ultimate act of dehumanization. At this point, the Jewish people had completely lost their sense of identity thus making it much easier for the Nazis. They were simply executing numbers not actual people with real pasts, families and lives. Dehumanization was a significant aspect of the holocaust because it deprived the Jewish people of their identities in the eyes of their murderers, the Nazis. Even though the Nazis were aware of these cruel crimes they were committing, they still commit these atrocities. Millions of Jews lost their identity during this horrible time in the history of the world. Approximately six million murders were committed under the power of Hitler in a little over ten years and it all began with the degradation of innocent human
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