Personal Narrative Essay: The Henry Adams Building

When Elie 's time at the concentration camps is about to end, Wiesel notes, in regard to the American troops that liberated his camp, "It was decided they would evacuate us all at once" (Wiesel 114). The concentration camp is about to be liquidated, and they want everyone out. The troops also wanted to get to as many camps as possible and not waste time as they swept through Germany. Many of the occurrences in the anecdote are important in the history of World War II, as well as that of the concentration camps, and the memoir will inform readers on this topic as they study Wiesel 's

He learned shortly after escaping the camps that not only had the rest of the world known of these camps, but also that for a long time they did nothing to help. In this instance, indifference of the world was the most dangerous of all evils because “indifference elicits no response” and therefore “is always the friend of the enemy” (Wiesel 3) according to Eliezer’s speech Perils of Indifference. One’s struggles often affect how they see others, and in experiencing such terrors due to indifference it makes perfect sense to want to advocate for others experiencing hardships. Often, these worldviews are directly related to instinctive reactions to traumatic

Many Americans were uneasy about the POWs but most agreed later with a local reporter (in the book) who stated that “if it weren’t for the bright yellow PW stamped on their trousers, you’d swear they were just a group of American boys …” (p. 24). The prisoners were brought over to help with the war efforts, such as maintaining

Without showing a shred of emotion, he simply asked if his own father survived. He did not embrace him, he did not show happiness that he was still living. He has now thoroughly expressed just what these camps can do to a human

I am Mica Herrin, a struggling college student from a provincial town in the middle of nowhere with a bank account that is composed mostly of some change I found in the fountain, but my lineage is a story that consists of much more. My family is vibrant and diverse, spanning across most of the west coast, the mid west, the south of the United States, as well as into northern Europe. We are a ragtag collection of farmers, intellectuals, artists, and creepy uncles all with our own unique tales of travel, wonder, and woe. My personal story begins in the Mobile Infirmary in Mobile, Alabama on July ninth, 1996. As the second child of Kevin and Darla Herrin, I spent the first three years of life in Mobile, Alabama before continuing my life journey to Dallas, Texas.

Another poignant moment in this chapter occurs when the inmates are put under the control of a young polish man that seems to value the lives of the inmates sincerely. After the man tells them to go to bed, Wiesel adds that the man’s words where the “first human words” (39) that the jews had heard while at the camp. This brings into perspective the fact that people in concentration camps were not treated as human. Instead, they were treated as a problem that needed to be taken care of. This can be said for all genocides: one group of people dehumanizes another group of

In the memoir Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand and Louie Zamperini show that having a determined mindset can help get through the horrors of POW camps. The POW camp Louie was in was terrible. He would get beaten everyday for no reason and be forced to do hard labor. The author uses words such as “broken”, “fractured, and “shattered” and paired them with the word “POW” to show that the Japanese soldiers had no mercy against the American soldiers. Throughout the POW camp terrible things happen to Louie and he is forced to see horrible events.

(pg 113) This quote shows that the circumstances were so bad in the concentration camp that he thought of food more than his father. This goes

Louies family was thrilled to see him. To Louies family it seemed as if he carried very little emotion from being in the prison camps. Hillenbrand wrote, “They spoke easily, as they always had. No one asked about prison camp. Louie volunteered a little about it, and to everyone’s relief, it seemed to carry little emotion for him”(342).

Topic 1 The biography, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was about the life of Louis and what troubles he faced while being kept as a POW in the Japanese camps during World War II. Louis and the other POWs faced horrendous conditions and were neglected throughout their time at the camps. There were strict rules placed on the captives but many of them found ways to break them. The POW camps served many purposes for the Japanese, but the conditions that the POWs faced at these camps were extremely severe.

His father gave him a reason to live which many people in the camps did not have. He and his father survive

He then chose to go back to the horrible, slipshod POW camp rather than degrade and betray his country. These men exemplify people standing up in the face of adversity and the embodiment of a noble

He felt it was important to relay the lessons he learned, so that others will not have to go through the same hardship, in the future. This reflects Moishe the Beadle’s struggles “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel, 6). These monstrous events are the result of not acting because they felt no personal connection. This resulted in not bearing witness, and the massive loss of life during The Holocaust. Making the choice to bear witness needs to be made before it is too late.

Wiesel addresses not only his own situation, but also the effect survival had inwards other fathers and sons in the camp. The memoir

After he got out of the camps he later went to become an amazing writer and inspiring speaker. He wrote in his book about all the things that he experienced and wished he could have changed things. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”