Holocaust Memorial Museum

Dear Holocaust Memorial Museum,

Night by Elie Wiesel is a whirlwind of grief, agony a cry for help and the pain the Jews went through. Although the most displayed emotion throughout this entire novel was fear. This novel exemplifies the most disturbing of fears experienced by the victims during the Holocaust. Fear of the sureness of losing each other was certain, so was fear of pain experienced, and lastly fear of death. Although fear of pain and death were always present, the captives of these work camps were always fearful of losing friends and family. Even before Elie and his family entered the work camps, fear of losing each other was already present.

"I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you my death so that you might ready yourselves while there is still time...But I wanted to warn you."(Wiesel 7). When Moishe the Beadle had a near death experience, he came back to the town for the purpose of being fearful that Elie and the kind people of the town would be lost. He could not stand to have them experience the same experiences as he had. Another example that displays fear of losing each other could be when the Wiesel family receive the small ghetto (Wiesel 20), and an old maid known as Maria finds them and begs the Wiesel family to take shelter with her family. This shows that Maria was trying her hardest to not lose her close friends by offering them shelter. In the same moment, the Wiesel family did not want to put Maria in danger or even separate themselves. By rejecting Maria's offer they didn't have to fear losing each other because they were together. Even though fear of losing each other was present in the beginning, it was also related to fearing pain.

The fear for pain was neck and neck with fear for losing each other. Before entering these work camps, Elie had the initial shock or fear of the monstrosities he had seen and the pain that had been caused soon after. "Dozens of inmates were there to receive us, sticks in hand, striking anywhere, anyone, without reason." (Wiesel 35). After having just seen the terrible cruelties happening to innocent people, being beaten, Elie and many others associated their dread with their pain and feared it extremely. The SSI (German officers) and those in charge would use that fear to their advantage striking when need be and making threats. "Listen to me you son of swine! So much for your curiosity. You shall receive five times more if you dare tell anyone what you saw!" (Wiesel 58).

When Idek had threatened Elie, it was after Elie had just been whipped twenty-five times, making Elie even more frightened of pain. Elie and many others were very frightened and fearful of pain and it was even to the fear of death. Under normal circumstances, when people pass away, those around them are given the opportunity to mourn. Victims of the Holocaust, were never given this opportunity in the work camps, making