Religion is like running a race, one needs strength and endurance, but most of all leadership. The book, Night, by Elie Wiesel, shows the strength one needs to survive through the most horrendous of events. This strength is achieved by the Jews through their own personal religion. Religion is based on structure, and the Nazis took this structure away from the Jews thus making many of them lose faith in God. The Nazis "dehumanized" these people making them loose the one thing they valued the most, which was their faith in God. Eliezer begins to lose his faith by witnessing the painful death of many innocent lives, the harsh conditions of the environment, and his growing disgust with humanity.

? Eliezer's faith falters by witnessing the painful death of many innocent lives. Eliezer starts out very religious in the novel. He is eager to learn more about the many aspects of his religion. However, when he is taken to the death camps, he starts questioning his faith. For example, Elie witnesses the hanging of a boy from the gallows in the camp. "For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes." (Wiesel 62) He saw this as the death of his God; the boy represented God dying on the gallows. "Where is he? Here he is- He is hanging here on this gallows…." (Wiesel 62) If God could let this happen to a child and force all to bear witness to it, then God must not exist.
Eliezer saw the Nazis burning the bodies of the Jews. He saw them throw living babies into the fire. He saw the chimneys belching the thick ash of the dead bodies. After seeing this he said, “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust." (Wiesel 32) Elie never got over his separation from his mother and sister. He was so innocent. He was only thirteen years old. The first night in the concentration camp changed his life and his belief in God forever.

            The harsh conditions of the environment took its toll on Eliezer’s belief in God. Elie and his family were forced from their homes. They were marched to the train station and herded into cattle cars. They were forced to leave all their belongings behind. They only had a small amount of food and water. The cars were overcrowded. There was little room to stand or sit. This horrible environment challenged Elie’s faith. Faith is about not knowing where exactly you will be, but trusting in God that you will be safe. The Jews began to turn against each other. One woman with her small son began to scream. When she wouldn’t stop, the Jews beat her. They were taken to Birkenau. The women were separated from the men. Elie never saw his mother and sister again. Elie and his father were marched past the crematories and were taken to a near-by barracks. It was freezing cold. They were beaten and stripped of their clothes. They were given haircuts, showers, prison clothes and beaten and chased from area to area until they were put in a barracks... Elie said, “Never will I forget the first night in camp. Never will I forget the flames that consumed my faith forever. Never will I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.” (Wiesel 34) Elie and his father were moved from camp to camp. Finally, they were taken to Auschwitz. The harsh environment, the hangings, the beatings, the shortage of food, and the cold weather all put a strain on Elie’s belief in God.

         Finally, Elie’s growing disgust with humanity tempted him to doubt whether there really is a God. Elie’s experiences taught him that the cruelty imposed on the prisoners by the Nazi’s changed their perspective on what was important and how they should treat each other. Elie couldn’t believe that his Rabi’s son ran away from his father because his father was slowing him down. Later, when his father was calling out, and the guards beat him, Elie was angry because his father called out. He wasn’t angry with the guards who beat him. In the middle of the night, the guards took his father to the crematorium. Elie didn’t care if he was still alive. He was happy that he no longer had the burden of caring for his father. He didn’t even cry. Self-preservation became the most important thing, and this led the prisoners to commit horrendous crimes against each other. On one of the cattle car rides, an elderly man was trying to hid bread to give to his son. Two prisoners saw this and killed the father and the boy to get the bread. After his father died, Elie did everything to stay alive. He was moved to different camps. His last camp was Buchenwald. On April 11, 1945, the camp was liberated by the Americans, and Elie was free. He thought about the night his father was beaten by his neighbors because he was too weak to go outside to relieve himself. When he saw this, Elie said, “One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate, one less reason to live.” (Wiesel 109) On April 10, the day before the liberation the prisoners were not fed for six days. Once they were liberated, they stormed the provision building and ate until they couldn’t eat anymore. There were no thoughts of revenge.

         Elie was sixteen year’s old on April 11,1945 when Buchenwald was liberated. His belief in the existence of God was shattered by witnessing the painful deaths of many innocent lives, the harsh conditions of the environment, and his growing disgust with humanity. He said,” I am alone in a world without God, without mankind, without love and mercy. I am the accuser and God is the accused.” (forward) He was nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and on December 10, 1986, he delivered his acceptance speech. He began his speech with a Jewish prayer to God. Then he took the roles of the adult and the child he was when he spent time in the concentration camps. He said to his younger self,” I have tried to keep the memory alive and fight those who would forget because if we forget what took place we are guilty, we are accomplices.” (Wiesel 117) He said that he was naïve to think that the world didn’t know what was going on. He accused the world of knowing and doing nothing. He said that the world is full of injustice and suffering, and he begged us to be vocal and to take an active role in stopping these injustices. His final remarks were, “Our lives no longer belong to us alone, they belong to all those who need us so desperately.” (Wiesel 120) Things haven’t changed much. There were injustices in 1945 and in 1986, and there are injustices today in 2015. Elie’s message is just as important today as it was in 1986.