Essential Reading: Night by Elie Wiesel

I read this book in one sitting (it is around 120 pages long) but it is an extremely powerful and important work. I think this should be required reading for all because it shows to us the ugly, dangerous face of totalitarianism, extremism and hate.

Reading this book made me think that hell really did exist on earth because if it wasn’t hell, then what was it? It is impossible to put into words the inhmanity faced by the Jews in concerntration camps. It’s difficult to comphrehend how human beings can do that. How can people stoop so low that they can do this to another human being. Killing of children and babies, is a whole new level of depravity that this book describes.How could anyone ever get over something like this? I think the survivors lived with the scars for their entire life. Why did they go through this? Because hate was allowed to get into power and hate was allowed to spread unchecked.

Alas, Mr. Wiesel is no longer with us, because otherwise I would have loved to have written to him about this book. It’s powerful, thought provoking and extremely moving. This is just me, a humble reader, reading this book and finding it so hard to comprehend the hate and violence that was let to roam free, but I find myself thinking how difficult it must have been for the survivor like Mr. Wiesel to write those memories down. It must have opened his wounds again. No wonder for 10 years after the war, he refused to write down his memories, because who would want to revisit hell?

The survivors re-lived the hell and reopened their wounds over and over again and talked about this horrific period because they wanted to make sure we do not forget, we do not become complacent to hate, that we do not let history repeat itself. I believe it is our duty to read their words so we can become better human beings so we do not ever stoop that low to carry out those horrific acts against others.

I will always resist hate of all kind. It is important to stand up to extremism no matter where it comes from, be it from the right or the left or religion. Violence, extremism and hate must always be resisted. Nothing good comes out of it. Violence and Peace are like oil and water. They do not mix.

May the victims of the Holocaust rest in eternal peace. Thank you Mr. Wiesel for your words, for moving me and for making me want to be a better person.