Resistance

While rereading the first few chapters of Night, I noticed that the Germans were met with surprisingly little resistance in their occupation, then deportation of Weisel's community. Before the Germans even arrived, the people of the community felt that they would never arrive at their homes, that the Germans would be sated somehow by taking Budapest. A faceless member of Weisel's community says "The Germans won't get as far as this. They'll stay in Budapest. There are strategic and political reasons..." And three days later, the German military had arrived in the town of Sighet.

Still the community continued to delude themselves. Even after the Jewish were banned from cafes, train stations, and resturaunts, even after the yellow stars were issued, the Jews of Sighet continued to be optimistic. The attitude of Sighet is similar to that of the world community. While Hitler began rearming Germany and preparing for war, the rest of the world did nothing. When Germany invaded the Rhineland, it met with little or no military opposition. Why is it that the Germans were able to do so much with so little resistance? Perhaps the world was still reeling from the horrors of the first world war. Perhaps people really believed that Hitler would stop before he actually harmed them. What were the effects of religion? The town elders preached the virtue of "Never lose[ing] faith, even when the sword hangs over your head". Who or what is responsible for the lack of resistance?