Question

The people in Sighet refuse to believe that Hitler can or will exterminate the Jewish race; their lives continue as usual, despite news of German victories. Using examples from the novel, explain why the people in Sighet remain optimistic amid all the threatening news around them.

Answer 1

Answer:

The Jews in Sighet refused to believe that Hitler can or will exterminate the Jewish race for they find it impossible for a whole race to be completely wiped off from the face of the earth. Also, they remained optimistic despite getting news about German's occupation of Jewish places for they thought that they are still far off from those places and that there will be some diplomatic solutions even if they are to come to Sighet.

Explanation:

Elie Wiesel's memoir "Night" recounts the horror that he, along with the other Jews, suffered during the German Nazi's regime, torturing the Jewish people. The Holocaust that was Hitler's attempts to fully annihilate the Jewish people was the main focus of the memoir.

The Jews of Sighet were at first adamant that none of the news about the torturing of Jews was alarming for it won't happen to them. He wrote

"The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out—and the Jews of  Sighet were still smiling."

They believed that either they are too far off from the main war front that German troops won't be able to reach. Or that Germany won't advance, believing that "they will stay in Budapest.  For strategic reasons, for political reasons.."

This was the belief of the Jews in Sighet. They also believed that a complete annihilation of the entire Jewish race is impossible, for they are not a small race. They realized that this was far from the truth when they found themselves surrounded by German troops within a short span of days.