The Diary Of Anne Frank and Night Show Experiences of Two People - Holocaust 

Genocides are the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. They are completely inhumane acts that kill mass amounts of people in brutal ways for no absolute reason. There have been several genocides that have occured in human history. The most well-known and arguably the most brutal genocide was that of Jews from Natzi Germany. The holocaust was used as a slaughterhouse for Jewish people and those who were not apart of Hitler’s “master race”. Two people have recorded their experiences during this genocide.

Ellie Wiesel, the author of Night and Anne Frank, the author of The Diary Of Anne Frank. Ellie Wiesel survived the holocaust, while Anne Frank lost her life in the holocaust. The memory of these people will live forever in the hearts of many people. The power of these two people’s stories and several other people’s memory will make people never forget the horrors of the holocaust. Ellie Wiesel, the author of, Night, was in the holocaust from 1944-1945. Ellie lived in a town called Sighet in Hungary. As a child he was very religious and hoped to further his studies in the Jewish religion and study the Kabbalah. He found a mentor in Moishe The Beadle, who guided him and talked to him about the Jewish religion and talked to him about deep topics, such as “We we pray” and “why we live(Weisel 7).”

In 1942, all foreign Jews were banned from Sighet and Moishe The Beadle was forced into a cattle car with other Jewish people and experienced horrors that were the holocaust(Wiesel). When he returned to the town, he tried to warn everybody about that the horrors that were inflicted upon him and others. “Moishe was not the same…….people not only refused to believe his stories, they refused to listen as well.” Even Ellie did not believe in his stories. In the spring of 1944, news was given from the Russian front that “Red Army” is advancing and will defeat Hitler’s forces(Wiesel 8). This allowed people to remain calm: “Yes we even doubted his resolve to exterminate an entire race.” Although this was not the case and everybody would be proven wrong. Eventually, the Germans came into Ellie’s town. Despite that happening, everybody was still calm and didn’t care. Rules were then introduced: Such as not owning jewelry, wearing yellow stars, and being moved into ghettos. Slowly things got worse as they went into the ghettos, people were being thrashed for asking water, children were crying because they were hungry(Wiesel 16). At this point in time no one knew about the horrors of the holocaust.

Although there were a few times when people foreshadowed the horrors that awaited them. Mrs. Schachter, a lady in the ghettos with other Jews started to scream, “Look at the fire….Flames everywhere(Wiesel 27).” The German soldiers responded by smashing her head in an effort to keep her quiet. They were then forced into a wagon, where they were taken to Auschwitz. Once they reached the camp, Ellie saw the horrors that was going on. “A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children Babies(Wiesel 32)!” Through all this, Ellie started to lose faith in his God. In Auschwitz, he goes on to explain, how they received minimal food and were forced through hard labor. He talks about how he had to give up his shoes and when he refused, the official beat his father until his Ellie gave up his shoes. Ellie talks about how people were driven insane from starvation that a son repeatedly beat his father to death, so he can have his food. He talks about how when his father was sick, people beat him, so they can have his food. The resistance army eventually overpowered the Nazti soliders and Wiesel was freed. Anne Frank is the author of, The Diary Of Anne Frank , when the Nazti took over Holland her family along with another family went into hiding in her father’s office. Her family and the Van Dans went into hiding called the “secret annex”. “Now our secret annex is really secret!” “Mr. Kugler has built a bookcase over our little entrance…. It opens like a door(Frank).” Life was hard in the annex for both the families. They were helped by Mr. Kugler and Miep, they gave them food and daily news of the Natzi movement with them because there was encouraging news of the Allies stopping Hitler in his tracks always came on the radio(Frank).

Unfortunately, one day the S.S. officials found out their hiding spot and arrested all of them. Anne along with her sister, Margo was transported to Bergen Belsen concentration camp from Auschwitz, where they died from illness(Frank). Although Anne lost her life, her diary will forever be remembered for her experiences will hiding and the circumstances that she had to face while hiding. There were differences and similarities from Ellie Wiesel and Anne Frank. The main difference between their experience was that Wiesel survived and Anne Frank lost her life just before the Allies liberated her camp. A similarity between Wiesel and Frank was that they both were part of the same genocide, the persecution of Jews. While Wiesel spent a lot of time in the ghettos and concentration camp, Anne Frank spent time in hiding and spent time in Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen concentration camps. Both were stripped of their teenage years when Germany started to advance and take over their countries. The key lessons that both artifacts wants people to understand is to stand up when they see something is wrong.

The key lesson that can be taken from these two artifacts is to never forget. Some things that are being done today to make sure another genocide doesn’t happen is that schools all over The United States are teaching students about the holocaust. Holocaust survivors give talks all over the country. The power of memory stands the test of time. The Diary Of Anne Frank and Night show the experiences of two people who went through the holocaust and describes their experiences when Natzi Germany was bringing their reign of terror onto Europe. The power of memory will make people never forget the holocaust.