Who is the Pipel in night?

Elie Wiesel’s true story Night, is an intriguing story about the Holocaust. The guards and even veteran prisoners are cruel to others. The punishments, even for tiny faults, are unthinkably horrid. Man does not care how old or weak someone is; this makes the children and teens change and act inhumane towards other prisoners, even towards their own family. It clearly, and painfully, explains man’s inhumanity to man. During the Holocaust, it was obvious to say the people involved were cruel to each other; they hit, beat, and torture each other without a blink of an eye. Many times Wiesel mentioned the cruelty that went on around him and to him himself. Wiesel said when he was at one of his first camps, the veteran prisoners treated him and all…show more content…
They were treated equally, but not in the way someone wants equality. In the very beginning of the book Wiesel said, “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). How can the soldiers have the stomach to shoot machine guns and infants? Was it forced or did they not mind? One of the many reasons the Holocaust is haunting to everyone. The Holocaust seemed like it was ran by heartless soldiers who had no feelings or emotions or guilt whatsoever. In the middle of the book, Wiesel talked about this young boy, also known as a pipel, who was hung in front of everyone because he was accused of messing with the power. (Wiesel 55) At first the boy did not die instantly, he hung, struggling for over a half an hour, and the soldiers just watched. There was not an ounce of remorse in their bodies, they can have at least put in out of his misery, but instead they watched him like they watch the news. This boy can not have been more than 13 years old, accompanying him were two grown adults who were also accused of messing with the power. As said before, there was equality, but not the way one thinks. Having the children in the camp watch the cruelty can change their view on everything; they can become totally different. “I once saw one of them (pipel), a boy a thirteen, beat his father for not making his bed properly. As the old man…show more content…
It discovered man’s inhumanity to man. The guards and prisoners were cruel to others, especially the new prisoners. The punishments were unreasonably harsh, even to tiny faults. Finally, men do not care how old, weak or strong someone is, resulting in the children picking up mean and harsh habits towards

             Night is a dramatic book that tells the horror and evil of the concentration camps that many were imprisoned in during World War II. Throughout the book the author Elie Wiesel, as well as many prisoners, lost their faith in God. There are many examples in the beginning of Night where people are trying to keep and strengthen their faith but there are many more examples of people rebelling against God and forgetting their religion.              The first example of Elie loosing his faith is when he arrived at Auschwitz. Elie and his father are directed to go to the left. A prisoner then informs them that they are on their way to the crematory. Elie's father recites the Kaddish or prayer for the dead. Revolt rises up inside of Elie and he questions God. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for? (Wiesel 31)              Another example of prisoners in the concentration camp loosing their faith in Night is when the pipel, a young child, was hung in front of the whole camp. The pipel was the Oberkapo's servant. The Oberkapo was the leader of the fifty-second unit. He never struck or insulted the prisoners who worked under him, that is why the prisoners loved him . Even though most pipels were cruel and hated, this one had the face of a sad angel and was loved by all. The Oberkapo was suspected in the intentional explosion of Buna's electric power station. He was transferred to Auschwitz but the pipel was left behind. The pipel refused to talk . Two other men were also accused. The pipel and the two other men were hung. The two adults died instantly but the pipel was too light and stayed alive for a half an hour. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed. Behind me I heard the same man ask where is God now? And I heard a voice within me answer him: Where is He? Here He is-

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“Where is God? Where is He?” someone behind me asked. .. For more than half an hour [the child in the noose] stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: “Where is God now?” And I heard a voice within me answer him:

“Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows. . . .”

This passage occurs at the end of the fourth section, as Eliezer witnesses the agonizingly slow death of the Dutch Oberkapo’s pipel, a young boy hanged for collaborating against the Nazis. This horrible moment signifies the low point of Eliezer’s faith in God. The death of the child also symbolizes the death of Eliezer’s own childhood and innocence. The suffering Eliezer sees and experiences during the Holocaust transforms his entire worldview. Before the war, he cannot imagine questioning his God. When asked by Moishe the Beadle why he prays, Eliezer replies, “Why did I pray? What a strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” Observance and belief were unquestioned parts of his core sense of identity, so once his faith is irreparably shaken, he becomes a completely different person. Among other things, Night is a perverse coming-of-age story, in which Eliezer’s innocence is cruelly stripped from him.

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