Fear is a weapon heavily utilized in the
concentration camps as described byin . A major way in
which fear is used to prevent the prisoners from rebelling against the guards is through the
demonstration of killing. The guards often performed the act of killing by making it a public
event. For example, Wiesel describes the guards forcing the prisoners to watch as their peers
are executed by way of hanging in the camps courtyard. The bodies hanging in the courtyard serve
as a constant reminder to the prisoners that they are consistently facing the threat of death,
especially if they are to disobey the camps rules.
Weisel also describes the incredibly dehumanizing selection process, where prisoners
are evaluated based on age and ability and systemically weeded out if deemed not useful for
physical labor, entertainment, or other services the captives are forced to perform within the
camp. During the selection process, Weisel shares that he had to lie about his age in order to
survive, claiming he was 18 as opposed to his truthful age of 15. Similarly, his father lies and
tells the guards he is 10 years younger than he actually is. The selection process is one of the
very first and most significant examples of fear within the camp: the prisoners are newly
entering this foreign and nightmarish world where they are evaluated like cattlethey are no
longer considered human but rather livestock. This fear goes one step beyond preventing the
prisoners from breaking the rules of the camp: it ensures that all prisoners demonstrate their
worth, their strength, their health, and their youth. They must market themselves in order to
save their lives. Fear structures the camp, forcing its inhabitants to be useful
workers.
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