Journal Entry #2 (this week)

Reading further into "Night", we are getting deeper into the darkness of Elizer's experiences. We are introduced to the setting where he spent his childhood. A small ghetto, in a small house. They weren't wealthy but they managed and they were happy. The lack of communication and help from the outer world let the Holocaust happen, just like the Rwandan genocide. When the Jews were evacuated, a lot of them did not expect it. Elie did because of Moshie the Beatle and his stories. I believe that he kept calm because Moshie had prepared him, but stupid because he could have avoided being sent to the camps. In our lit group we talked about pain, and if it was avoidable. I do not believe pain is avoidable. I also believe that severe emotional pain always leads to future 'life damage', same way that physical pain/injuries occur. For example, if a child is abused  by their alcoholic mother, the child will grow up to be an alcoholic abuser/murderer/suicide victim. I don't believe that is controllable due to their history of being abused. Elie Wiesel still holds himself liable for his fathers death, his families death, and even the Holocaust itself. He has troubles sleeping at night and his memory is still so vivid. The family got separated, Elie and his father, his mother and his sister. At this point I don't think that Elie will see his mother or sister again. They were separated into women & men, then to old, weak, young, or sick, and strong, middle aged (18-40). I inferred that they were killing the useless group, and keeping the strong men to work. Elie and his father were put in the same line headed for the crematorium. Why were they headed into the fire if they were going to keep working?
My group worked well and brought some interesting insight to the questions we asked each other. Overall we had a good discussion with lots of T-T and T-W connections.