Elie's Experience In The Holocaust

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Thesis: The Holocaust was a very traumatic event that spread across almost all of Europe and changed millions of lives for the worse, two of the many jews affected were Eliezer Wiesel and Yitskhok Rudashevski. Elie’s experience in the Holocaust was far more extreme than Yitskhok’s; however, they did share many emotions as they fought to stay alive through all of the brutality. Once Elie left the camps, a dark cloud lingered above him, as a constant reminder of the excruciating pain he went through. The first illustration of the mind numbing conditions of the concentration camps was after the first selection. A veteran of Auschwitz told Elie and his father they were sent to the side going to the crematorium. Elie had just watched the workers …show more content…
For instance, the difference between Elie and Yitskhok is seen when he was in the ghetto. He had just turned fifteen and decided there was no point in wasting his time doing nothing. He started to do what made him as happy as he could be. His feelings were strength and hope: “I do not feel the slightest despair… I live confident in the future, I am not worried about it, but see before me sun and sun and sun” (152). Even though the Jews were all suffering, Yitskhok was hopeful that everything would get better. He wished for the Germans to be defeated and to make it through the Holocaust. This was his primary hope before his his life took a turn for the worse. In the next example, the distinction between Yitskhok and Elie grows larger, as Yitskhok aims to survive in hiding. The Germans had continued to empty the ghettos, so as a way of survival, they fled to a hideout at their uncle’s house. Those who had remained in the ghetto were either sent away or killed. They thought they had left just in time, however, they were wrong. His uncle found his diary and documented, “they survived for two weeks along with five others but were found out by the Germans in October. Yitskhok and his family were taken to the forest and murdered” (152). Yitskhok went into hiding and never made it to a concentration camp …show more content…
The first example of this is seen while they are both living in the ghettos. Elie’s experience in the ghetto was one of the last times he saw his whole family before they were separated. They watched many groups transfer to the camps, while they stayed in their home until they were moved into another ghetto. Elie may have spent more time in the ghettos, but Yitskhok went through just the same. He saw others leaving with bundles and led out to the gate of the ghetto. He had felt as though his freedom was being taken away. When he was forced out of his home he had seen something different: “I look at the house in disarray, I see things scattered that were dear to me, that I was accustomed to using. We carry the bundles to the courtyard” (150). Elie was also forced out of his home to carry bundles of all he had left. He was brought to a house of scattered belongings, just as Yitskhok left his own. They were both under the constant control of the Germans and never knew what was going to next. They went through the same as anyone in a ghetto had, fearful of what was to come, but also hateful of what was happening. The second comparison between the two, is the relationship of faith with the most faithful people in both groups. For Yitskhok, Teacher Gershteyn was the most hopeful, cheerful, and faithful.
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