Question

1. Describe the failure of Sighet Jews to anticipate Nazi terrorism.

Answer 1

Even though Moishe the Beadle, a survivor of a mass murdering of Jews carried on by the Nazis, has told his story to his fellow Jews, they don't believe him. Some of them even don't want to listen to his testifying. Shortly after, the German soldiers start carrying out their plan by arresting the Jewish leaders, stripping them of their possessions, making them wear yellow stars. All of these cruelties aren't enough for the Jews to believe that a horrible end awaits most of them. This is one of the main points of Wiesel's masterpiece: everything is possible, even the worst imaginable outcome. By choosing to ignore it, we side with the oppressor, rather than the oppressed.