Holocaust Blog #2

"One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto.

From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me.

The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me."

As Eliezer finishes “Night” , he ends it with this final passage, nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't tell us about what happened after the war, where he went and so on, but he specifically chose to end it this way. He begins by mentioning the fact that he gets up everyday regardless of what he's been through, he has to 'look at himself in the mirror", which could be interpreted as the fact that he still has to face the reality of it all, no matter how cruel or torturous it is." From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me." This part of the passage is very significant in my opinion because he says that there is a part of him that is dead and still within him, a part of him that recognizes all that has happened him, the tragedy of losing family, seeing murder and torture but in the midst of all that there is the person who is looking in the mirror, the little sane part of Eliezer that is still alive and has a little hope for his life, but regardless of the fact that he has come this far, he will never forget as that Holocaust survivor is still in him. He uses two different identities to specifically show this as a sane human being would not be able to bear the weight of all that he/she would see in the Holocaust and be able to look themselves in the mirror. This passage might be perceived as hopeful or bitter sweet even as it shows that Eliezer has found his identity after the Holocaust and the tragedies of his life are not restraining him. I read a primary source of a victim from the Darfur genocide from the Modern Genocide section who danced whenever he saw the gruesome acts going on around him, it would temporarily take his mind of things. It would help him forget. Years later, he still danced and it brought back awful memories but he felt the need to keep those memories alive, to respect those that lost their lives, to prove that they were not just a number or one of the masses. The comparison between these two is strong and so similar, both genocide survivors felt the need to share with the world what they had saw and how it has affected their lives which is a very difficult and vulnerable thing to do. How many people actually take the time or energy to remember all these people that have died for no reason? It might not pull our heartstrings since we didn’t know them but what if something like this was to happen right now, taking the ones you loved away? These articles and books are awareness for us of what mankind is capable of. It shows that regardless of all the hardships we endure, we often keep living and have to overcome them to grow as a person. It may seem impossible and is often very difficult for us to put aside painful memories but often keeping them as remembrance pushes us to move away from them and progress.