Night1 essays

Night1 essays Where is God now? (A man behind me asked)...He is hanging here on this gallows... This is where the Holocaust left young Elie. It left him with a feeling that there is no God, or if there is, he is not as wonderful as everyone has been proclaiming that he is. The story begins in the small town of Sighet near Transylvania were Elie lived with his parents and two little sisters. Elie studied the Talmud during the day and spent his evenings in Synagogue praying. His life revolved around his undying faith and love for God. He loved God and the Jewish faith so much that he often cried while he was praying. He and his family lived without fear and in happiness until some of the people of Sighet were deported. One of them, Moche the Beadle, returned with stories of Jews being slaughtered and babies being tortured and used as firing practice. The stories were dismissed as crazy and they told themselves that they were all safe. They believed they were in the peaceful hands of God. Unfortunately, in 1944 German troops moved into their town. They set up ghettos and controlled their lives with fear. The people of Sighet were forced to leave their homes. They were packed into cattle wagon trains and given buckets of water and bread to eat. They stayed in the train for many days and were not allowed to get out to go to the bathroom so they were condemned to live amidst filth. Some people started going crazy. One old woman screamed almost the entire time about flames and burning flesh. Little did everyone know that what she was yelling about was the fate of everyone in her company. When they finally arrived in Birkenau, they exited the train to the smell of burning flesh and the sight of smoke and flames. When they got into the camp Elie and his father were separated from his mother and two little sisters. They did not realize immediately that they would never see them again. After they were separated they were t...