Night by Elie Wiesel
Experiencing the Worst but Finding the Best Night, a memoir by Elie Wiesel, is crucial in the understanding of human nature. Night represents the best and the worst of the human experience in many ways. Wiesel explains his horrible journey through the Holocaust, but tells about how it expanded his compassion, brought him closer to his father, forced him to mature quickly, and ultimately made him grow as a person. There were countless physical and emotional demands that the Holocaust insisted he go through, including hard labor, hypothermia, and watching his loved ones pass away. Through all of these atrocities, Wiesel found that every cloud has a silver lining. In “The Nazi Party is Formed” by James Masters, he explains how Hitler formed the National Socialist Party from a minute German Workers’ Party. Adolf Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party and immediately began to try and make it succeed. He essentially “took over” recruiting members for the club. On October 16, 1919, one hundred people showed up at the monthly public meeting. In a matter of months, four to be exact, the Workers’ party grew tremendously. By this time, they had 2,000 members. Hitler used the huge turnout to kick-start the party’s propaganda. In his speech, Adolf outlined the following: the unification of all Germans; the refusal to accept the Treaty of Versailles; a mandate for additional territories for the German citizens; citizenship determined by race (no Jew was to be considered a “true” German); and religious freedom (besides those religions that “infected” the German race). Hitler was obviously formulating an anti-Semitic plan long before he became the dictator of Germany. Adolf finally decided that in order to gain popularity for his new group, he must create a “powerful, instantly recognizable symbol” (Masters). He decided on a red swastika with a white background. This is still considered “the most infamous [symbol] in history” (Masters). Hitler decided to call his group the
Cited: Masters, James. "The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Nazi Party Is Formed." The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Nazi Party Is Formed. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/party.htm>. Wiesel, Elie. "Acceptance Speech." Nobel Prize Organization. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1986/wiesel- acceptance.html>. Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.