Night

"In every area of human creativityindifference is the enemy; indifference of evil is worse than evil, because it is also sterile."Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel appears as the fourth child in the left column in this photo of child survivors of Buchenwald, a concentration camp.

Timeline of Elie Wiesel

• 1928--born in Sighet,

• Romania 1944—deported to Auschwitz

• Jan.1945--father dies in Buchenwald

• Apr.1945--liberated from concentration camp

• 1948--moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne 1948--work in journalism begins

• 1954--decides to write about the Holocaust

• 1956--hit by a car in New York • 1958--Night is published • 1963--receives U.S. citizenship

• 1964--returned to Sighet • 1965--first trip to Russia • 1966--publishes Jews of Silence

1969--married Marion Rose • 1972--son is born • 1978--appointed chair of

Presidential Commission on the Holocaust

• 1980--Commission renamed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council

• 1985--awarded Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement

• 1986--awarded Nobel Peace Prize• 1995--publishes memoirs

Elie Wiesel--Biography

• A holocaust survivor!• He was born in the town of Sighet,

Romania in 1928. • In 1944 the German Nazi’s deported

Wiesel and his entire family to Auschwitz, a concentration camp.

• Wiesel survived Auschwitz, Buna, Buchenwald and Gleiwitz, all Nazi commanded concentration camps.

At 15 yrs old

Elie Wiesel--Biography

• In 1963 he became a citizen of the United States.

• He was appointed a professor of humanities at Boston University in 1976.

• From 1980 to 1986, Wiesel served as chairman of the U.S. President's Commission on the Holocaust.

Elie Wiesel-Biography

• He received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1985.

• He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.• Wiesel has written and lectured widely about

the Jewish tradition and other Jewish issues, as well as about human rights in general.

Famous Passage from Night

• Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never. (Elie-Wiesel)

Elie Wiesel with Yitzhak Rabin Let us remember, let

us remember the heroes of Warsaw, the martyrs of Treblinka, the children of Auschwitz. They fought alone, they suffered alone, they lived alone, but they did not die alone, for something in all of us died with them.

Elie Wiesel

I spent most of my time talking to God more than to people. Elie Wiesel

Themes of the Novel

• Genocide• Apathy can be more

detrimental to society than pure hatred.

• One’s spirit drives the soul to survive.• The light of faith in humanity can

overcome the darkness of hate.• Even in despair, man searches for

meaning.

Main Characters

• Eliezer Wiesel (identification number A-7713)*The narrator of the book, Elie is taken to concentration camps in Czechoslovakia and

Germany at the age of fourteen. • Eliezer's father (Chlomo Wiesel)

*Eliezer's father is very respected within the Jewish community of his hometown, and he spends most of his time occupying himself with community affairs

Minor Characters

• Moché the Beadle: A poor, humble man who works at the Hasidic synagogue in Sighet

• Tzipora: Eliezer's seven-year-old sister

• Eliezer's mother: Eliezer is separated

from his mother upon arriving at Birkenau.

Night Study Guide Notes

• The original title Elie Wiesel gave the novel was And the World Has Remained Silent.

• He wrote this book after 10 years of silence.

• By the end of the Holocaust, over 6 million Jews had been killed.

Night Study Guide Notes

• There are five motifs to look for while reading Night:– Night – pay attention to what happens at

night and what that might symbolize. Remember what we learned when we talked about archetypes and what night might symbolize.

– Bearing Witness – Pay attention to which characters are witnesses and to what they bear witness.

Night Study Guide Notes

• Motifs (continued):– Father-son Relationships – Pay attention

to how Elie and his father’s relationship develops; in addition, notice other father-son relationships in the book.

– Loss of faith – Notice how Elie’s faith in God changes as the book progresses. Write on your study guides where these changes occur.

Night Study Guide Notes

• Motifs (continued):– Voice vs. Silence – Who has a voice and

who chooses to remain silent? Why might Elie Wiesel title his novel what he did originally, and why did he no longer remain silent?

• From the 10 Core Concept notes, we will learn that Poland had the largest population of Jews in Europe.

Night Study Guide Notes

• In Poland, 90% of the approximately 3,000,000 Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

• As you read, look for times that Wiesel mentions the people in surrounding towns.

• There are several groups who contributed to the Holocaust, persecutors and by-standers included.

• Why are by-standers just as important as the persecutors?

Images

Photographs

Words to Think About

“The Holocaust is a central event in many peoples lives, but it also has become a metaphor for our century. There cannot be an end to speaking and writing about it.”

Aharon Appelfeld

“If by some miracle, I survive, I will devote my life to testifying on

behalf of all those whose shadows will be bound to mine forever”.

Elie Wiesel

I cannot teach this book. Instead, I drop copies on their desks,like bombs on sleeping towns,and let them read. So do I, again.The stench rises from the pageand chokes my throat.The ghosts of burning babieshaunt my eyes.And that bouncing baton,that pointer of Death,stabs me in the heartas it sends his motherto the blackening sky.Nothing is destroyedthe laws of science say,only changed. The millions transformed intoprecious smoke rode the windto fill our lungs and heartswith their cries.

No, I cannot teach this book.I simply want the wordsto burn their comfortable soulsand leave them scarred for life.

"On Wiesel's Night“by:

Thomas E. Thorton