Elie Wiesel Comes out to tell his chilling
story about living through the
concentration camps
How the camps changed him
Before arriving at the camps
JT Ferebee
Before arriving to the first camp Elie
is different than most young Jewish
boys. He is very curious in the
Jewish religion. He studies the
Talmud by day and the Kabbalah by
night and he wants to become a
mystic. He constantly prays and
even cries while praying sometimes.
But soon after entering the first
camp many characteristics of Elie
begin to change.
Going into the first camp
JT Ferebee
When going into the first concentration
camp, Elie sees babies being thrown into a
burning ditch. This makes Elie question
why he should sanctify and thank god for
anything. Shortly after a group of men are
talking about how great god is and Elie
ceases to pray to god. This is a huge
change for Elie because he used to pray to
god constantly and always thank him.
Emotional Changes
JT Ferebee
When Elie and his Father first
enter the camp, Elie knows he
needs to stay with his father
because he is all he has. But, as
their time lengthens, Elie becomes
mentally and physically stronger
than his father. Elie soon starts to
think about how his life would be
easier without his father. Elie can
not stand the thought of going on
with out his father but it starts to
cross his mind more. This is
something Elie never thought
would cross his mind when first
entering camps.
Physical Transformation
JT Ferebee
All the camps Elie went through had
hard labor and there were small
rations of food and water.
Elie has his head shaved by the
barber as soon as they get to camp
number one. He is also stripped of all
his clothes. Elie and the other Jews
are constantly on the brink of
starvation and freezing to death in
the winter. Possibly the worst part is
the marching and running from one
camp to another during the frigid
winters with no shoes and little
clothing. When he is finally free and
looks in the mirror at the hospital he
is at and he sees himself. Elies body
went from healthy to just skin and
bone and looking dead. The camps
leave Elie with nothing but a corpse.