Elie Wiesel Death March

Death March Elie Wiesel stated in his book Night, “There is a long road of suffering ahead of you, but don’t lose courage.” They could not lose courage, they could not lose faith, they could not lose their willpower, it was the only thing that could, and did, keep them going. Being tortured for their faith, what they believed in, and who they were, jews were forced to partake in death marches. Jews would be held in concentration camps, then needing to be relocated for different reasons, would have to participate in miles after miles of running and walking, a death march. Elie Wiesel, his father, Juliek, and millions of other jews were forced to partake in a death march through the darkest, coldest, snowiest days and nights imaginable. The only thing keeping them alive was their

What they needed was strength. Physical strength was severely lacking due to malnutrition for the past days, months, even years. Mental strength and willpower however were what kept Elie and his father going. “An icy wind blew in violent gusts”; “Pitch darkness. Every now and then, an explosion in the night.”; “On the way it snowed, snowed, snowed endlessly”; Elie and the other jews ran through all this without physical strength. Elie also stated in the memoir Night that, “I was putting one foot in front of the other mechanically. I was dragging with me the skeletal body which weighed so much. If only I could have got rid of it.” Elie’s willpower and courage is what helped him and others reach the final destination. As Elie ran, he tried to help others falling behind by encouraging them. One young boy named Zalman complained that his “stomach was bursting”, so Elie tried to encourage him, to help him complete the death march, to see what was waiting for them, but Zalman did not make it. He just did not have the willpower to go on anymore. Later on when they reached an area where they could