NIGHT BY ELIE WIESEL HTTPS WWW GOOGLE CASEARCH

NIGHT BY ELIE WIESEL HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=ELIE+WIESEL+NIGHT+QUOTES&SOURCE=LNMS&TBM=ISCH&SA=X&EI=M 8 NIU 9 NZN 4 POOASQODQCQ&VED=0 CAYQ_AUOAQ&BIW=1117&BIH=573#FACRC=_&IMGDII=_&IMGRC=8 GIULZDVJS_MNM%253 A%3 BNKOTSKC 33 REVM%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FIZQUOTES. COM%252 FQUOTES-PICTURES%252 FQUOTE-NEVER-SHALL-I-FORGETTHAT-NIGHT-THE-FIRST-NIGHT-IN-A-CONCENTRATION-CAMP-WHICH-HAS-TURNED-MY-ELIE-WIESEL 311753. JPG%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FIZQUOTES. COM%252 FQUOTE%252 F 311753%3 B 850%3 B 400

• TITLE - “NEVER SHALL I FORGET THAT NIGHT, THE FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP WHICH HAD TURNED MY LIFE INTO ONE LONG NIGHT. . . NEVER P. 32 & IX SYMBOL IMAGE OF CHIMNEY AND NIGHT • A. THEMATIC LINK • B. AUTHORIAL INTRUSION • C. CHARACTER CHANGE • D. CAUSE AND LASTING EFFECTS OF THE HOLOCAUST • E. REMEMBRANCE AND MEMORY

HTTP: //WWW. YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH? V=EUE 5 K 1 BJRKK BIOGRAPHY BORN: SEPTEMBER 30, 1928 BIRTHPLACE: SIGHET, TRANSYLVANIA (NOW ROMANIA) ELIE WIESEL IS A ROMANIAN-BORN JEWISH-AMERICAN AUTHOR, POLITICAL ACTIVIST, AND HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR. HE IS WELL KNOWN FOR THE BOOK NIGHT, WHICH WAS BASED ON HIS EXPERIENCES AS A PRISONER IN THE AUSCHWITZ, BUNA, AND BUCHENWALD CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE • .

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=IMAGE+OF+ELIE+WIESEL+GET+NOBEL+PEACE+PRIZE&BIW=1366&BIH=573&TBM=ISCH&IMGIL=S 3 MEGQSIAHDSYM%253 A%253 BHTTPS%253 A%252 FENCRYPTE D-TBN 2. GSTATIC. COM%252 FIMAGES%253 FQ%253 DTBN%253 AAND 9 GCRUG 6 R 8 KKYEJVGE 0 SRYELGTDLM 1 BRVGVXCFEOPETCORRULYA 6 E%253 B 2048%253 B 1459%253 BCCIMRCAGB 3 F 4 MM%253 BHTTP%25253 A%25252 FOBSERVER. COM%25252 F 2012%25252 F 08%25252 FBLA MELESS-AND-UPRIGHT-BUT-NOT-THAT-GOOD-ELIE-WIESEL-IS-A-BETTER-SPOKESMAN-THAN-WRITER%25252 F&SOURCE=IU&USG=__GP 1 JMDXZ_CLFCSB 13 CPAIHPI 8 A%3 D&SA=X&EI=NFBOU 4 BBAOMRYATF_4 LQDW&VED=0 CDAQ 9 QEWAW#FACRC=_&IMGDII=_&IMGRC=8 GDB 3 HFOX 9 GYPM%253 A%3 BW 9 J 9 FUPPWQI 9 RM%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FWWW. SA VE-ANTHONY. COM%252 FUPLOADS%252 F 1%252 F 11113117%252 F 800229_ORIG. JPG%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FWWW. SAVEANTHONY. COM%252 FTEACUTEMOIGNAGESTESTIMONIES. HTML%3 B 262%3 B 294 • WIESEL WAS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IN 1986. THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE CALLED HIM A "MESSENGER TO MANKIND, " NOTING THAT THROUGH HIS STRUGGLE TO COME TO TERMS WITH "HIS OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF TOTAL HUMILIATION AND OF THE UTTER CONTEMPT FOR HUMANITY SHOWN IN HITLER'S DEATH CAMPS, " AS WELL AS HIS "PRACTICAL WORK IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE, " WIESEL HAS DELIVERED A POWERFUL MESSAGE "OF PEACE, ATONEMENT AND HUMAN DIGNITY" TO HUMANITY

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE DEC. 10, 1986 IN OSLO PP. 117 -120 • “I REMEMBER : IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY, OR ETERNITIES AGO. A YOUNG JEWISH BOY DISCOVERED THE KINGDOM OF NIGHT. I REMEMBER HIS BEWILDERMENT, I REMEMBER HIS ANGUISH. IT HAPPENED SO FAST. THE GHETTO. THE DEPORTATION. THE SEALED CATTLE CAR. THE FIERY ALTAR UPON WHICH THE HISTORY OF OUR PEOPLE AND THE FUTURE OF MANKIND WERE MEANT TO BE SACRIFICED. P. 118 • “THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE IS NOT HATE, IT'S INDIFFERENCE. THE OPPOSITE OF ART IS NOT UGLINESS, IT'S INDIFFERENCE. THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH IS NOT HERESY, IT'S INDIFFERENCE. AND THE OPPOSITE OF LIFE IS NOT DEATH, IT'S INDIFFERENCE. ” • “AND THAT IS WHY I SWORE NEVER TO BE SILENT WHENEVER AND WHEREVER HUMAN BEINGS ENDURED SUFERING. WE MUST TAKE SIDES. ” P. 118 ― ELIE WIESEL

ONE PERSON OF INTEGRITY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, A DIFFERENCE OF LIFE AND DEATH P. 120 • “IF THE ONLY PRAYER YOU SAY THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE IS "THANK YOU, " THEN THAT WILL BE ENOUGH. ” • “…I SPEAK TO YOU AND EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE AS ONE WHO HAS EMERGED FROM THE KINGDOM OF NIGHT. WE KNOW THAT EVERY MOMENT IS A MOMENT OF GRACE, EVERY HOUR AN OFFERING; NOT TO SHARE THEM WOULD MEAN TO BETRAY THEM…OUR LIVES NO LONGER BELONG TO US ALONE; THEY BELONG TO ALL THOSE WHO NEED US DESPERATELY. ” P. 120

NIGHT: TITLE AND SYMBOL THE KINGDOM OF NIGHT • THE BIBLE BEGINS WITH GOD’S CREATION OF THE EARTH. WHEN GOD FIRST BEGINS HIS CREATION, THE EARTH IS “WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID; AND DARKNESS [IS] UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP” (GENESIS 1: 2, KING JAMES VERSION). • GOD’S FIRST ACT IS TO CREATE LIGHT AND DISPEL THIS DARKNESS AND NIGHT THEREFORE SYMBOLIZE A WORLD WITHOUT GOD’S PRESENCE. IN NIGHT, WIESEL EXPLOITS THIS ALLUSION. NIGHT ALWAYS OCCURS WHEN SUFFERING IS WORST, AND ITS PRESENCE REFLECTS ELIEZER’S BELIEF THAT HE LIVES IN A WORLD WITHOUT GOD. • THE FIRST TIME ELIEZER MENTIONS THAT “[N]IGHT FELL” IS WHEN HIS FATHER IS INTERRUPTED WHILE TELLING STORIES AND INFORMED ABOUT THE DEPORTATION OF JEWS. • IT IS NIGHT WHEN ELIEZER FIRST ARRIVES AT BIRKENAU/AUSCHWITZ, AND IT IS NIGHT—SPECIFICALLY “PITCH DARKNESS”—WHEN THE PRISONERS BEGIN THEIR HORRIBLE RUN FROM BUNA.

SHEMA • COVER YOU EYES WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND SAY: • HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE L-RD IS OUR G-D, THE L-RD IS ONE. • RECITE THE FOLLOWING VERSE IN AN UNDERTONE: • BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE GLORY OF HIS KINGDOM FOREVER AND EVER. • YOU SHALL LOVE THE L-RD YOUR G-D WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT. AND THESE WORDS WHICH I COMMAND YOU TODAY SHALL BE UPON YOUR HEART. YOU SHALL TEACH THEM THOROUGHLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, AND YOU SHALL SPEAK OF THEM WHEN YOU SIT IN YOUR HOUSE AND WHEN YOU WALK ON THE ROAD, WHEN YOU LIE DOWN AND WHEN YOU RISE. YOU SHALL BIND THEM AS A SIGN UPON YOUR HAND, AND THEY SHALL BE FOR A REMINDER BETWEEN YOUR EYES. AND YOU SHALL WRITE THEM UPON THE DOORPOSTS OF YOUR HOUSE AND UPON YOUR GATES

CONTINUED… • AND IT WILL BE, IF YOU WILL DILIGENTLY OBEY MY COMMANDMENTS WHICH I ENJOIN UPON YOU THIS DAY, TO LOVE THE L-RD YOUR G-D AND TO SERVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, I WILL GIVE RAIN FOR YOUR LAND AT THE PROPER TIME, THE EARLY RAIN AND THE LATE RAIN, AND YOU WILL GATHER IN YOUR GRAIN, YOUR WINE AND YOUR OIL. AND I WILL GIVE GRASS IN YOUR FIELDS FOR YOUR CATTLE, AND YOU WILL EAT AND BE SATED. TAKE CARE LEST YOUR HEART BE LURED AWAY, AND YOU TURN ASTRAY AND WORSHIP ALIEN GODS AND BOW DOWN TO THEM. FOR THEN THE L-RD'S WRATH WILL FLARE UP AGAINST YOU, AND HE WILL CLOSE THE HEAVENS SO THAT THERE WILL BE NO RAIN AND THE EARTH WILL NOT YIELD ITS PRODUCE, AND YOU WILL SWIFTLY PERISH FROM THE GOOD LAND WHICH THE L-RD GIVES YOU.

THE SHEMA • THEREFORE, PLACE THESE WORDS OF MINE UPON YOUR HEART AND UPON YOUR SOUL, AND BIND THEM FOR A SIGN ON YOUR HAND, AND THEY SHALL BE FOR A REMINDER BETWEEN YOUR EYES. YOU SHALL TEACH THEM TO YOUR CHILDREN, TO SPEAK OF THEM WHEN YOU SIT IN YOUR HOUSE AND WHEN YOU WALK ON THE ROAD, WHEN YOU LIE DOWN AND WHEN YOU RISE. AND YOU SHALL INSCRIBE THEM ON THE DOORPOSTS OF YOUR HOUSE AND ON YOUR GATES - SO THAT YOUR DAYS AND THE DAYS OF YOUR CHILDREN MAY BE PROLONGED ON THE LAND WHICH THE L-RD SWORE TO YOUR FATHERS TO GIVE TO THEM FOR AS LONG AS THE HEAVENS ARE ABOVE THE EARTH.

THE SHEMA HTTP: //WWW. CHABAD. ORG/LIBRARY/ARTICLE_CDO/AID/706162/JEWISH/TRANSLATION. HTM FROM SIDDUR TEHILLAT HASHEM. © COPYRIGHT KEHOT PUBLICATION SOCIETY, BROOKLYN NY PUBLISHED AND COPYRIGHT BY KEHOT PUBLICATION SOCIETY, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. • THE L-RD SPOKE TO MOSES, SAYING: SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AND TELL THEM TO MAKE FOR THEMSELVES FRINGES ON THE CORNERS OF THEIR GARMENTS THROUGHOUT THEIR GENERATIONS, AND TO ATTACH A THREAD OF BLUE ON THE FRINGE OF EACH CORNER. THEY SHALL BE TO YOU AS TZIZIT, AND YOU SHALL LOOK UPON THEM AND REMEMBER ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE L-RD AND FULFILL THEM, AND YOU WILL NOT FOLLOW AFTER YOUR HEART AND AFTER YOUR EYES BY WHICH YOU GO ASTRAY - SO THAT YOU MAY REMEMBER AND FULFILL ALL MY COMMANDMENTS AND BE HOLY TO YOUR G-D. I AM THE L-RD YOUR G-D WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT TO BE YOUR G-D; I, THE L-RD, AM YOUR G-D. TRUE.

SABBATH • SABBATH

MOTIFS • TRADITION • JUDAISM IS MORE THAN SIMPLY A RELIGION • IT IS AN ENTIRE CULTURE THAT HAS, FOR MOST OF ITS ALMOST 6, 000 -YEAR EXISTENCE, BEEN A DISPERSED CULTURE • A NATION WITHOUT A COUNTRY, A PEOPLE WITHOUT A HOME. • AS A RESULT, MEMORY AND TRADITION PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN JEWISH LIFE. IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY GEOGRAPHIC CONTINUITY, JUDAISM RELIES ON CUSTOMS, OBSERVANCES, AND TRADITIONS, PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, AS THE MARKERS AND BEARERS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY. • HITLER AND THE NAZIS WANTED NOT ONLY TO DESTROY THE JEWISH PEOPLE BUT ALSO TO HUMILIATE THEM AND ERADICATE ALL VESTIGES OF JUDAISM. • AS ELIEZER RELATES IN NIGHT, THE GERMANS DESECRATED JEWISH TEMPLES, FORCED JEWS TO BREAK DIETARY LAWS, AND DELIBERATELY SHAVED THEIR HEADS AND TATTOOED THEM IN VIOLATION OF JEWISH SCRIPTURE. THE NAZI GENOCIDE WAS AN ATTEMPT TO WIPE OUT AN ENTIRE PEOPLE, INCLUDING ALL SENSE OF NATIONAL AND CULTURAL UNITY.

STORY TELLING • CONVERSATION AND STORYTELLING HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF JEWISH FOLK TRADITION • SHLOMO’S STORYTELLING SYMBOLIZES JEWISH CULTURE AS A WHOLE. HIS STORY IS INTERRUPTED BY THE ARRIVAL OF THE NAZIS, JUST AS THE HOLOCAUST ATTEMPTED TO INTERRUPT JEWISH HISTORY AS A WHOLE. • THROUGHOUT THE BOOK, ELIEZER CLINGS TO TRADITION, EVEN AFTER HIS FAITH HAS APPARENTLY BEEN LOST, BECAUSE IT SERVES AS AN IMPORTANT LINK TO LIFE OUTSIDE THE HOLOCAUST, BEYOND THE TERROR AND OPPRESSION HE IS EXPERIENCING. • HE STRUGGLES WITH THE QUESTION OF FASTING ON YOM KIPPUR. • HE EXPRESSES REGRET WHEN HE FORGETS TO SAY KADDISH (A MOURNER’S PRAYER) FOR HIS DECEASED FRIEND AKIBA DRUMER, NOT BECAUSE HE FEELS THAT HE HAS FORSAKEN AN OBLIGATION TO GOD, BUT BECAUSE HE FEELS THAT HE HAS FORSAKEN HIS COMMITMENT TO HIS FELLOW JEWS AND FELLOW PRISONERS.

THE MOURNERS KADDISH • THE KADDISH Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. . . p. 30 “I was face to face with the Angel of Death”p. 30 Elie’s farther loses faith in mankind. . . in his God? He weeps And they begin to recite the Kaddish the prayer for the dead for themselves Faith crisis Elie wishes for own death p. 31 Biblical allusion- note reference to SS

ELIEZER WIESEL (IDENTIFICATION NUMBER A-7713) • THE NARRATOR OF THE BOOK, ELIEZER IS TAKEN TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND GERMANY AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN. • AS A YOUNG BOY IN SIGHET, TRANSYLVANIA, HE IS VERY DEVOUT AND INTERESTED IN JEWISH MYSTICISM-KABBALAH • HIS RELIGIOUS FAITH IS CHALLENGED BUT NOT DESTROYED DURING HIS TIME IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. • SEPARATED FROM HIS MOTHER AND SISTER UPON FIRST ARRIVING AT BIRKENAU • ELIEZER AND HIS FATHER ARE ABLE TO REMAIN TOGETHER ALMOST ENTIRELY IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. • GRAPHIC ORGANIZER CHARACTER MAP

A 7713 • IS VERY DEVOTED TO HIS FATHER. EXAMPLES: SHARING RATIONS AND LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER. • INTERNAL CONFLICT: THE BRUTALITY OF CAMP LIFE WEAKENS ELIEZER'S DEVOTION TO FATHER, CAUSING HIM RESENTMENT, ANGER, SHAME AND GUILT. ELIEZER BECOMES CONCERNED WITH HIS OWN SURVIVAL-FEEDING HIMSELF, TRYING TO ESCAPE NAZI BRUTALITY. THE INSTINCT OF SELF-PRESERVATION OFTEN OVERSHADOW HIS CONCERN FOR HIS FATHER, WHO HE BITTERLY EXPECTS TO TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF. • A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS ARE LIBERATED, ELIEZER'S FOOT SWELLS FROM THE COLD, AND HE HAS TO UNDERGO AN OPERATION • IRONICALLY, THREE DAYS AFTER LIBERATION OF BUCHENWALD HE BECAME ILL FROM SOME KIND OF POISONING AND SPENT 2 WEEKS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE

A 7713: PROTAGONIST AND POINT OF VIEW • ELIEZER IS MORE THAN JUST A TRADITIONAL PROTAGONIST; HIS DIRECT EXPERIENCE IS THE ENTIRE SUBSTANCE OF NIGHT. • HE TELLS HIS STORY IN A HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE, FIRST-PERSON, AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL VOICE. • RESULT: INTIMATE, PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF THE HOLOCAUST THROUGH DIRECT DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE. THROUGH THE VOICE OF AN ADOLESCENT • MANY BOOKS ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST USE A GENERALIZED HISTORICAL OR EPIC PERSPECTIVE TO PAINT A BROAD PICTURE OF THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY • ELIEZER’S ACCOUNT IS LIMITED IN SCOPE BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IS A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE THEREBY AFFORDING THE READER A GLIMPSE INTO A BRUTAL BUT INTIMATE DESCRIPTION OF LIFE UNDER THE NAZIS.

A 7713 • IT IS IMPORTANT TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE AUTHOR OF NIGHT, ELIE WIESEL, AND ITS NARRATOR AND PROTAGONIST, ELIEZER. • THAT A DISTINCTION CAN BE MADE DOES NOT MEAN THAT NIGHT IS A WORK OF FICTION. FOR INSTANCE, WHAT HAPPENS TO ELIEZER IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO WIESEL DURING THE HOLOCAUST. BUT ELIE ALTERS SOME SMALL FACT TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM THE PROTAGONIST; FOR INSTANCE , HE ACTUALLY WOUNDED HIS KNEE IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, WHEREAS ELIEZER WOUNDS HIS FOOT. • REMEMBER: IT IS EXTREMELY TRAUMATICFOR A SURVIVOR TO REMEMBER AND WRITE ABOUT HIS OR HER HOLOCAUST EXPERIENCE; THUS THE CREATING A NARRATOR ALLOWS THE AUTHOR TO DISTANCE HIMSELF SOMEWHAT FROM THE TRAUMA AND SUFFERING ABOUT WHICH HE WRITES.

THE PURPOSE-WHY WIESEL WROTE NIGHT? WHAT AUDIENCE WOULD IT APPEAL TO? POINTS • WIESEL DID NOT WRITE NIGHT MERELY TO DOCUMENT HISTORICAL TRUTHS ABOUT PHYSICAL EVENTS. THE MEMOIR IS CONCERNED WITH THE EMOTIONAL TRUTH ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST, AS EXPERIENCED BY INDIVIDUALS. BOOKS LIKE PEOPLE HAVE A DESTINY… FOR IN THE END, IT IS ALL ABOUT MEMORY, ITS SOURCES AND MAGNITUDE…ITS CONSEQUENCES. P. XV QUOTES • DID I WRITE IT SO AS NOT TO GO MADOR, ON THE CONTRARY. TO GO MAD IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF MADNESS, TERRIFYING MADNESS THAT HAD ERUPTED IN HISTORY AND IN THE CONSCIENCE OF MANKING? P. VII

THE PREFACE POINTS • AS ELIEZER STRUGGLES FOR SURVIVAL, HIS MOST FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS—HIS FAITH IN GOD, FAITH IN HIS FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS, AND SENSE OF JUSTICE IN THE WORLD— ARE CALLED INTO QUESTION. HE EMERGES FROM HIS EXPERIENCE PROFOUNDLY CHANGED. QUOTES P. VII • WAS IT TO LEAVE BEHIND A LEGACY OF WORD, OF MEMORIES, TO HELP PREVENT HISTORY FROM REPEATING ITSELF? • OR WAS IT SIMPLY TO RECORD THE ORDEAL I EXPERIENCED AS AN ADOLESCENT, AT AN AGE WHEN ONE’S KNOWLEDGE OF DEATH AND EVIL SHOULD BE LIMITED TO WHAT DISCOVERS IN LITERATURE?

TO FORGET THE DEAD WOULD BE AKIN TO KILLING THEM A SECOND TIME. P. XV POINTS • THE HOLOCAUST SHAKES HIS FAITH IN GOD AND THE WORLD AROUND HI • HE SEES THE DEPTHS OF CRUELTY AND SELFISHNESS TO WHICH ANY HUMAN BEING—INCLUDING HIMSELF—CAN SINK. • THROUGH ELIEZER, WIESEL INTIMATELY CONVEYS HIS HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES AND HIS TRANSFORMATION AS A PRISONER DURING THE HOLOCAUST QUOTES P. VIII • I DON’T KNOW HOW I SURVIVED…IT WAS NOTHING MORE THAN CHANCE…HOWEVER, HAVING SURVIVED, I NEEDED TO GIVE SOME MEANING TO MY SURVIVAL = PURPOSE/RESPONSIBILITY • TO PRESERVE JEWISH MEMORY WHICH ENCOMPASSES JEWISH MEN, WOMAN, CHILDREN, JEWISH RELIGION, JEWSIH CULTURE, JEWISH TRADITION- SO THE NAZI DID NOT WIN!

A 7713 AT SOME LATER DATE (WE DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHEN), ELIE WIESEL, WHO WAS 16 YEARS OLD ON APRIL 16, 1945, SAID THAT HE WAS THE FACE SHOWN INSIDE THE RED CIRCLE. (2) IN OCTOBER 1983 (WHEN THE CAMPAIGN TO GET WIESEL A NOBEL PRIZE BEGAN) THIS PICTURE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SAME HIGH CIRCULATION SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE IN AN ARTICLE TITLED “BEARING WITNESS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF ELIE WIESEL, ” “ON APRIL 11, 1945, AMERICAN TROOPS LIBERATED THE CONCENTRATION CAMP’S SURVIVORS, INCLUDING ELIE, WHO LATER IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS THE MAN CIRCLED IN THE PHOTO. ”(3) http: //www. eliewieseltattoo. com/theevidence/photographic-evidence/buchenwald/

WITHIN MINUTES WE HAD CEASED TO BE MEN ORDERED: 1. REMOVE CLOTHES, BELTS AND SHOES- NAKEDNESS 2. BARBER SHAVED HEADS 3. RUN TO NEW BARRACKS 4. DISINFECTED/SHOWERS 5. UNIFORMS

CHARACTERISTICS OF ELIE: FROM HIS WORDS 1 2 4 3 5

CHARACTER MAP

MAKING CONNECTIONS Characte r Theme External Conflict Internal Conflict 1 1 1

ELIEZER'S FATHER (CHLOMO WIESEL) • ELIEZER'S FATHER IS VERY RESPECTED WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF HIS HOMETOWN • HE SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME OCCUPYING HIMSELF WITH COMMUNITY AFFAIRS. • A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL, WHICH IS THE FIRST GROUP TO HEAR ABOUT DEPORTATION, AND HE REFUSES TO TRY TO ESCAPE THE COUNTRY. • FATHER WAS “A CULTURED, RATHER UNSENTIMENTAL MAN. . . MORE CONCERNED WITH OTHERS THAN HIS OWN FAMILY”P. 2 • “MY FATHER WEPT. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I HAD EVER SEEN HIM WEEP. ”P. 16 • MARTHA: AN OLD GENTILE SERVANT OF THE WIESEL FAMILY. WHEN THE FAMIKLY ARE MOVED INTO THE SMALLER GHETTO, SHE OFFERS TO HIDE THE FAMILY IN THE COUNTRY. • ELIEZER'S FATHER REFUSES TO FLEE, AND ELIEZER DECIDES TO STAY WITH THE REST OF HIS FAMILY.

ELIEZER'S FATHER (CHLOMO WIESEL) • IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, HE AND ELIEZER TAKE CARE OF ONE ANOTHER. • A FIFTY-YEAR-OLD MAN, HE IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY WEAK AND DRIED UP • HE FINDS IT HARDER THAN ELIEZER TO ESCAPE THE ABUSE OF CONCENTRATION CAMP LIFE. • ON THE LAST MARCH TO GLEIWITZ, HE BECOMES VERY WEAK AND SICK, • AND AT BUCHENWALD HE CATCHES A DEADLY CASE OF DYSENTERY. • HE DIES ON JANUARY 29, 1945, AFTER AN SS OFFICER SHATTERS HIS SKULL WITH A TRUNCHEON. HIS LAST WORD IS A WHISPERED "ELIEZER. " 1 2 3 4 5

SHILOMO – ELIE’S FATHER • ASIDE FROM ELIEZER, ELIEZER’S FATHER, SHLOMO, IS THE ONLY OTHER CONSTANT PRESENCE IN THE WORK. • HOWEVER, WHEREAS ELIEZER DEVELOPS THROUGHOUT NIGHT, EXPERIENCING HORRIBLE REVELATIONS AND UNDERGOING NUMEROUS CHANGES, ELIEZER’S FATHER REMAINS A FAIRLY STATIC CHARACTER, AN OLDER MAN WHO LOVES HIS SON AND DEPENDS UPON HIM FOR SUPPORT. THE READER DOES NOT GET TO HEAR SHLOMO’S THOUGHTS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE , WE WITNESS HIS GRADUAL EXPERIENCE OF DECLINE/LOSS OF LIFE, A DECLINE THAT IS EVIDENT FOR MANY OF THE CAMP’S PRI • NIGHT IS TOLD FROM ELIEZER’S POINT OF VIEW AND IT IS THROUGH HIS EYES, WE SEE SHILOMO. • ELIEZER IS CONSTANTLY THINKING OF HIS FATHER, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS CRUCIAL TO ELIEZER’S EXPERIENCE AND GROWTH- HIS EVOLVING AND AS SUCHELIEZER’S FATHER IS BUT AS AN ASPECT OF ELIEZER’S LIFE. ELIEZER CAN TELL US ONLY ABOUT HIS OWN EXPERIENCEAND NOT HIS FATHER’S. • SHLOMO IS A CENTRAL N THIS MEMOIR BECAUSE HE IS OF SO FUNDAMENTALLY IMPORTANCE TO ELIEZER. HE IS THE CENTER OF ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL. ELIEZER’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS FATHER REMINDS HIM OF FUNDAMENTAL FEELINGS OF LOVE, DUTY, AND COMMITMENT TO HIS FAMILY AS WELL AS HIS DESPAIR IN BETRAYING THOSE BONDS. ELIE’S COMMITMENT TO HIS FATHER ALSO REMINDS HIM OF HIS OWN HUMANITY, OF HIS COMPASSION, LOVE AND EMPATHY. • ALL AROUND HIM, HE SEES FELLOW PRISONERS DESCENDING TO THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF SELFISHNESS AND CRUELTY, BUT HIS RELATIONSHIP TO HIS FATHER REMINDS HIM OF HIS HUMANITY; THAT THERE IS LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE HOLOCAUST, AND A SET OF FUNDAMENTAL MORAL VALUES THAT TRANSCENDS THE CRUELTY AND HATRED OF THE NAZI WORLD AND REALITY.

JOURNEY OF DESPAIR AND FEAR Elie blames God. p 64 read Irony: Rosh Hashanah - New Year Yom Kippur ( Day of Atonement) SS give selection as a New Year’s gift Symbol: bells p. 70 “ I could only imagine a universe of no bells” “in the depths of my heart I felt a great void”p. 66 Fears for father ( who is in Block 36)yet “ Suddenly I remember him. How would he pass selection? He had aged so much. ”p. 67 The forgotten numbers- Dr. Menegele had not forgotten. Elie’s father is selected - his inheritance - a knife and a spoon. Tries to reassure Elie but feels “his time is short” p. 71 Survives 2 nd selection and Elie gives him back his inheritance. note his anger and loss of faith. . “I was the accuser, god the accused. My eyes were open and I was alone in a world without God and without men. Without love, without mercy. I had ceased to be anything but ashes, yet I felt myself stronger than the Almighty. . . observing like a stranger”p. 65 and his father. . . “ Whose was the tear? Mine? His? . . . We had never understood each other so clearly. . . Not the shadow of an expression. Beaten. ” p. 65 wishes father Happy New Year Should we fast? The forgotten numbers- Dr. Menegele had not forgotten. Elie’s father is selected - his inheritance - a knife and a spoon. Tries to reassure Elie but feels “his time is short” p. 71 Survives 2 nd selection and Elie gives him back his inheritance.

WE WERE MASTERS OF NATURE, MASTERS OF THE WORLD” P. 82 AND THE MORNING STAR APPEARED Dancing a dance of death- Father makes Elie wake up and not fall asleep and freeze tp death - he is kept moving by father surrounded by stiffened corpses“to sleep meant to die”p. 85 Revolts against death Next Elie has to keep his father awake and he does with a smile Elie will always remember because “[f]rom which world did it come? ” p. 86 “I held onto my father’s hand- the old familiar fear: not to lose him. “p. . 99 Father - dysentery other patients hit him and take his bread Father resting in the snow - “I can’t go on. . . This is the end. . . I’m going to die here. . . Leave me. . . I could have wept with rage. . . I felt I was not arguing with him, but with death itself, with a death he had already chosen. . . p. 100 Elie falls asleep - note guilt- I had abandoned him- could be rid of dead weight. . . felt ashamed, ashamed forever. p. 101// to Rabbi Eliahou’s son -sharing of soup with heavy heart

MIRROR OF DEATH Chapter 9: Living Death reread pp 107 -109 “ After my father’s death, nothing could touch me anymore. ”p. 107 - survival theme only wanted to eat didn’t think of father or mother Mirror- “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me. ” p. 109 Thematic statement, authorial intrusion And Elie was silent for ten years - a self imposed vow Elie has learned: the darkest side of humanity L of F dual nature- man is both heroic and

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ELIE’S FAMILY MOTHER SILENT, COOKS FOR DEPARTURE “I’VE GOT A PREMONITION OF EVIL” P. 10/ “. . . SHE WALKED WITH A SET EXPRESSION ON HER FACE, WITHOUT A WORD, DEEP IN THOUGHT”P. 17 LAST IMAGE OF ELIEHAS OF HIS MOTHER… SHE IS REASSURING TZIPORA BY SMOOTHING HER HAIR ELIEZER IS SEPARATED FROM HIS MOTHER UPON ARRIVING AT BIRKENAU. SHE DIES IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMP. HILDA (ELDEST) BEATRICE- BEA ” TIME TO FIND A SUITABLE YOUNG MAN FOR HILDA”P. 5 2 ND CHILD TIME FOR BETHROTHAL WORKS IN FAMILY STORE ASSISTS WITH WORK IN STORE

TZIPORA HER ARM, A LITTLE GIRL OF SEVEN. . . ( CARRIED A HEAVY BUNDLE)SHE GRITTED HER TEETH. . . USELESS TO COMPLAIN”P. 19 “THAT WAS WHEN I BEGAN TO HATE THEM, AND MY HATRED REMAINS OUR ONLY LINK TODAY. THEY WERE OUR FIRST OPPRESSORS. THEY WERE THE FIRST FACES OF HELL AND DEATH. ” P. 19 ELIEZER'S SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SISTER, TZIPORA AND HER MOTHER ARE SEPARATED FROM ELIEZER AND HIS FATHER UPON ARRIVING AT BIRKENAU. SHE ALSO DIES IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMP HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=IMAGE+OF+LITTLE+GIRL+IN+A+RED+COAT+SYMBOL&BIW=1366&BIH=573&TBM=ISCH&IMGIL=EUHZPUYNMJKW 0 M%253 A%253 BHTTPS%253 A%252 F%252 FENCRYPTED-TBN 3. GSTATIC. COM%252 FIMAGES%253 FQ%253 DTBN%253 AAND 9 GCQNLLD 5 VCDSTFJIPFOPVIZGBZSBN 4 CYSRP 94 ZIAC 25 FGH_31 W 8%253 B 634%253 B 562%253 BMJCJWJVBOBO 3 HM%253 BHTTP%25253 A%25252 FWWW. DAILYMAIL. CO. UK%25252 FNEWS%25252 FARTICLE 2287890%25252 FSCHINDLERS-LIST-TRAUMA-GIRL-RED-COAT-HOLOCAUST-ICON. HTML&SOURCE=IU&USG=__8 E-RQ 9 NBHWKDP-YQ 8 DGGD 0 SBSMK%3 D&SA=X&EI=RUBOU-INJ 5 CTYATHYL 4 AQ&VED=0 CCOQ 9 QEWAA#FACRC=_&IMGDII=HOKHJ 8 JV 4 EAN_M%3 A%3 B-0 KXUWI 0 PEHTZM%3 BHOKHJ 8 JV 4 EAN_M%3 A&IMGRC=HOKHJ 8 JV 4 EAN_M%253 A%3 B 4 U 9 G 9 ONDECCFM%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FAUSCHWITZ. DK%252 FREDGIRLAAA. JPG%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FAUSCHWITZ. DK%252 FREDGIRL. HTM%3 B 303%3 B 210

MOCHÉ THE BEADLE: A MESSENGER WHO WARNS THEM BUT THEY DO NOT LISTEN • ELIE’S MENTOR; RECOGNIZES ELIES SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND QUEST • A POOR, SILENT, HUMBLE MAN WHO WORKS AT THE HASIDIC SYNAGOGUE IN SIGHET • HANDYMAN AT SYNOGOGUE • MOCHÉ IS WELL-LIKED BY ALL THE TOWNSPEOPLE. • MASTER OF THE KABBALA-JEWISH MYSTICISM • HE HELPS ELIEZER TO STUDY THE KABBALA, • FOREIGN JEW EXPELLED BY HUNGARIAN POLICE • EARLY IN THE WAR, MOCHÉ IS DEPORTED TO NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS BECAUSE HE IS A FOREIGNER. HE MANAGES TO ESCAPE AND TRIES TO WARN THE TOWNSPEOPLE OF THE HORRORS OF THE HOLOCAUST. THEY IGNORE HIM AND THINK HE'S MAD. HE TEACHES ELIE THAT IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ASK GOD THE RIGHT QUESTIONS THAN TO TRY TO FIND THE RIGHT ANSWERS. • “ MAN QUESTIONS GOD AND GOD ANSWERS. BUT WE DON’T UNDERSTAND HIS ANSWERS. WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND THEM. . . THEY COME FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SOUL, AND THEY STAY THERE UNTIL DEATH. YOU WILL FIND THE TRUE ANSWERS. . . ONLY WITHIN YOURSELF!”PP. 2 -3 • MANIC SOBBING …POST-TRAUMATIC SHOCK (MENTAL DISORDER) • BEADLE A MINOR OR INFERIOR CHURCH OFFICIAL

MOSHE • MOSHE THE BEADLE IS THE FIRST CHARACTER INTRODUCED IN NIGHT • CONVEYS TWO CONCEPTS KEY TO ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE: 1. THE IDEA THAT GOD IS EVERYWHERE, EVEN WITHIN EVERY INDIVIDUAL, AND 2. THE IDEA THAT FAITH IS BASED ON QUESTIONS, NOT ANSWERS. ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE WITH FAITH IS, FOR THE MOST PART, A STRUGGLE OF QUESTIONS. • . HE CONTINUALLY ASKS WHERE GOD HAS GONE AND QUESTIONS HOW SUCH EVIL COULD EXIST IN THE WORLD. • MOSHE’S STATEMENT TELLS US THAT THESE MOMENTS DO NOT REFLECT ELIEZER’S LOSS OF FAITH; INSTEAD THEY DEMONSTRATE HIS ONGOING SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT/ EVOLVING OF FAITH. • THE READER ALSO SEE THAT AT THE LOWEST POINTS OF ELIEZER’S FAITH—PARTICULARLY WHEN HE SEES THE PIPEL (A YOUTH) HUNG IN BUNA—HE IS FULL OF ANSWERS, NOT QUESTIONS. AT THESE MOMENTS, HE HAS INDEED LOST THE SPIRIT OF FAITH HE LEARNED FROM MOSHE, AND IS TRULY FAITHLESS. • FINALLY, MOSHE MAY ALSO SERVE AS A REPRESENTATIVE FOR ELIE HIMSELF, AS HIS PRESENCE ILLUSTRATES A PURPOSE OF THE ENTIRE WORK. REMEMBER NIGHT CAN BE READ AS AN ATTACK AGAINST SILENCE. - EVIL IS PERPETUATED BY A SILENT LACK OF RESISTANCE OR—AS IN INCIDENTS OF MOSHE’S WARNINGS—BY IGNORING REPORTS OF EVIL. • WITH NIGHT, WIESEL, LIKE MOSHE, BEARS WITNESS TO TRAGEDY IN ORDER TO WARN OTHERS, TO PREVENT ANYTHING LIKE THE HOLOCAUST FROM EVER HAPPENING AGAIN.

CHARACTERS HTTP: //WWW. GRADESAVER. COM/NIGHT/STUDY-GUIDE/CHARACTER-LIST AUTHOR OF CLASSICNOTE AND SOURCES JENNIFER MOON, AUTHOR OF CLASSICNOTE. COMPLETED ON MAY 30, 2000, COPYRIGHT HELD BY GRADESAVER. WIESEL, ELIE. NIGHT BANTAM DOUBLEDAY DELL PUBLISHING GROUP. 1982. Dr. Mengele The SS officer who decides who is to go to the crematories during selections. Eliezer sees him twice, once upon arrival at Birkenau and again at Buna. • “ a typical SS officer; a cruel face, but not devoid of intelligence, and wearing a monocle”p. 29 • conductor’s baton • SYMBOL? Stein of Antwerp is the husband of Reizel, who is the niece of Eliezer's mother. He finds Eliezer and his father at Auschwitz and is desperate to hear news of his family. Eliezer lies and tells him his family is doing fine, which keeps him alive for awhile. SYMBOL?

CHARACTERS: MATCH SYMBOLS TO A CHARCTERS RABBI ELIAHOU • • A VERY DEVOUT, PURE, AND WELLLIKED RABBI WHO APPEARS AFTER THE RUN TO GLEIWITZ. IS LOOKING FOR HIS SON, WHO HAD BEEN WITH HIM FOR THREE YEARS IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMP BECAUSE THEY HAD GOTTEN SEPARATED DURING THE RUN. ELIEZER REALIZES THAT THE SON DELIBERATELY TRIED TO BE SEPERATED FROM HIS FATHER BECAUSE RESPONSIBILITY OF LOOKING OUT FOR ANOTHER HUMAN BEING IS TOO OVERWHELMING. MEIR KATZ ZALMAN • • • A YOUNG MAN A FRIEND OF ELIEZER'S FATHER WHO WORKED IN THE GARDEN AT BUNA. . • IN THE TRAIN TO BUCHENWALD, MEIR KATZ SAVES ELIEZER'S LIFE WHEN SOMEONE TRIES TO STRANGLE HIM WORKED WITH ELIEZER IN THE WAREHOUSE AT BUNA. TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT BY THE MASSES BEHIND HIM AS HE BECOMES SICK WITH STOMACK CRAMP “DEATH WRAPPED ITSELF AROUND ME UNTIL I FELT STIFLED”IT STUCK TO ME. I FELT LIKE I COULD TOUCH IT. THE IDEA OF DYING, OF NO LONGER BEING, FASCINATED ME. NOT TO EXIST ANY LONGER” P. 82 S • • “I QUICKLY FORGOT HIM” -ELIE • IRONICALLY, HE SOON LOSES HIS WILL TO LIVE AND DIES.

MATCH SYMBOLS TO CHARACTERS ALPHONSE FRANEK ALPHONSE A GERMAN JEW WHO IS HEAD OF THE MUSICIAN'S BLOCK AT BUNA. HE IS VERY KINDLY AND TRIES TO GIVE HIS CHARGES EXTRA SOUP WHENEVER HE CAN. THE POLISH FOREMAN OF THE MUSICIAN'S BLOCK AT BUNA. HE GETS ELIEZER'S FATHER TO WORK IN THE SAME BLOCK AS ELIEZER, BUT HE LATER FORCES ELIEZER TO GIVE HIM HIS GOLD CROWN BY REPEATEDLY BEATING HIS FATHER. JULIEK A POLISH VIOLIN PLAYER IN THE MUSICIAN'S BLOCK AT BUNA. HE LATER REAPPEARS AT GLEIWITZ WHEN ELIEZER DISCOVERS THAT HE IS LYING ON TOP OF HIM IN THE INCREDIBLY CROREACH CAMP - TRAMPLING OVER BODIES- JULIEK [VIOLIN] “THE DEAD WERE HEAPED ON THE LIVING” . HE PLAYS BEETHOVEN SOULFULLY IN THE NIGHT. VIOLIN- CONCERT TO DEAD AND DYING MEN HE DIES WITH HIS VIOLIN NEXT TO HIM “SMASHED, TRAMPLED, A STRANGE OVERWHELMING LITTLE

WORDS DEPICTING THE JOURNEYP. 15; THE DARKESS ZONE OF MAN & P. IX ELIE’S AND YOURS ELIE’S HUNGER THIRST FEAR ACTIVITY MINE HEART BROKEN FOR ALL ETERNITY P. IX WHISTLE NIGHT RUN AND MARCH ANGUISH SHOT LIKE DOGS TRANSPORT BARBED WIRE SELECTION AN OPEN TOMB FIRE YELLOW STAR CHIMNEY TRANSPORT READ PAGE IX SURREAL CATTLE CARS WHEELS DOORS NAILED SHUT FIRE MEN TO LEFT WOMEN TO THE RIGHT HELL EMPTY AND DEAD NAKED BLACK GALLOWS CHIMNEY DEATH KNELL SILENCE LIBERATION

DEPORTATION TIMETABLE: A. M. . -preparation made for journey 8 a. m. -police move Jewish peple from homes they are treated cruelly and”weariness like molten lead began to settle in the veins. . . ” 10 a. m. - roll call 1 p. m. -signal to leave 8 a. m father returns and says will be moving to little ghetto to avoid deportation 9 a. m -police round up Night---> Dawn---> move on Saturday (Jewish Sabbath) moved to Synagogue which had been pillaged and detained for 24 hours Sunday morning: 80 people board each cattle car, car is sealed, person put in charge if there was an escapee he would shot, few loaves of bread and few buckets of water only substance “The race toward death had begun. . . 1. Jews forbidden to leave homes for 3 days on pain of death 2. Jews no longer had the right to possess; gold, silver, jewels, objects of value 3. Day 3 - new decree- all Jews must wear a yellow star 4. Additional decrees: no longer could a Jew eat in a restaurant, travel on the railroad, , attend synagogue, curfew after 6: 00 5. All Jews-------> ghetto

JOURNAL ENTRY

WHAT POSSESSIONS WOULD YOU HAVE PACKED? ALLOWED TO BRING PERSONAL BELONGINGS • A BACKPACK • SOME FOOD • FEW ITEMS OF CLOTHING • NOTHING ELSE • ONE BY ONE , THE HOUSES EMPTIED AND THE STREETS FILLED WITH PEOPLE CARRYING BUNDLES. P. 16 YOURS

THE GHETTO WAS RULED BY NEITHER GERMAN OR JEW; IT WAS RULED BY DELUSION P. 12 THE GHETTOS HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=THE+GHETTO+IN+SIGHET+TRANSYLVANIA&BIW=1366&BIH= 573&TBM=ISCH&IMGIL=83665 GO 22 -H 5 TM%253 A%253 BHTTPS%253 A%252 FENCRYPTEDTBN 2. GSTATIC. COM%252 FIMAGES%253 FQ%253 DTBN%253 AAND 9 GCQNS 7 DM 9 T 94 JBIFYWUOUU 3 BZ O 1 HIDNYXQ 3 XJUSSH 69 FSVGXCKKRNQ%253 B 375%253 B 234%253 BQZPOQH 9 Z 2 TQP 1 M%253 BHTTP%2 5253 A%25252 FBRIANITEBLOGSPOT. COM%25252 F&SOURCE=IU&USG=__WSFQEE 0 CRHXBPEKERV 6 KRH 3 ZEM%3 D&SA=X&EI=TDFOU 6 CCLM 2 RYASMP 4 GABG&VED=0 CDEQ 9 QEWA G#FACRC=_&IMGDII=_&IMGRC=83665 GO 22 H 5 TM%253 A%3 BQZPOQH 9 Z 2 TQP 1 M%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 F 1. BP. BLOGSPOT. COM%252 F_8 E 8 T DLGWP 3 Y%252 FSAU 2 A 3 E 033 I%252 FAAAAAW%252 FJ_ANT 31 Y_Y 8%252 FS 400%252 FJCSIGHET _ROMANIA. JPG%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FBRIANITEBLOGSPOT. COM%252 F%3 B 375%3 B 234 ALL JEWS MUST LIVE IN A GHETTO ALL JEWS MUST WEAR A YELLOW STAR JEWS FORBIDDEN TO LEAVE HOMES FOR 3 DAYS ON PAIN OF DEATH DAY 3 - NEW DECREE- ALL JEWS MUST WEAR A YELLOW STAR. ADDITIONAL DECREES: NO LONGER COULD A JEW EAT IN A RESTAURANT, TRAVEL ON THE RAILROAD, , ATTEND SYNAGOGUE, CURFEW AFTER 6: 00 JEWS NO LONGER HAD THE RIGHT TO POSSESS; GOLD, SILVER, JEWELS, OBJECTS OF VALUE

SYMBOL OF ENTRAPMENTDOMINANT IMPRESSION ONE OF ABANDONMENT-OPEN TOMB“THE RACE TOWARD DEATH HAD BEGUN. . . ” EVERYTHING MOVED SO FAST…. THE YELLOW STAR CATTLE CARS FATHER RETURNS AND SAYS WILL BE MOVING TO LITTLE GHETTO TO AVOID DEPORTATION THE YELLOW STAR? OH WELL, WHAT OF IT? YOU DON’T DIE OF IT. . . ”P. 9 80 PEOPLE BOARD EACH CATTLE CAR TRANSPORTS WE CAN’T GO LIKE BEASTS TO THE SLAUGHTER”P. 29

THE FIRST INSENSIBLE CRUELTY ELIEZER EXPERIENCES IS THAT OF THE NAZIS. YET, WHEN THE NAZIS FIRST APPEAR, THEY DO NOT SEEM MONSTROUS IN ANY WAY. ELIEZER RECOUNTS, “[O]UR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE GERMANS WERE MOST REASSURING. . THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD THEIR HOSTS WAS DISTANT, BUT POLITE. ”

MADAME SCHAECHTER VISIONS AND WARNINGS • FIFTY YEARS OLD - IN THE SAME TRAIN CAR AS ELIEZER DURING THE INITIAL DEPORTATION TO AUSCHWITZ. • HUSBAND TWO ELDEST SONS DEPORTED IN FIRST TRANSPORT CAR AND SHE “HAD GONE OUT OF HER MIND”P. 22 • ACCOMPANIED BY TEN YEAR OLD SON WHO TRIES TO TAKE CARE OF HER - TRIES TO COMFORT HER. . . AND HER LITTLE BOY CLINGS TO HER MUTE AND TEARLESS. • LOSES HER MIND DURING THE JOURNEY AND SCREAMS HYSTERICALLY AND REPEATEDLY ABOUT A FLAMING FURNACE THAT SHE APPARENTLY SEES IN THE DISTANCE. • SHE TERRIFIES THE OTHER OCCUPANTS OF THE TRAIN, AND SHE IS REPEATEDLY BEATEN BY YOUNG MEN TRYING TO SILENCE HER. SHE IS HIT WITH SUCH FORCEFUL BLOWS THAT “THEY MIGHT HAVE KILLED HER. ”P. 24 • CONTRAST HER SCREAMING AND HER SILENCE SYMBOLS: CHIMNEY AND FIRE

QUOTES FIRE • I CAN SEE FIRE!. . . A TERRIBLE FIRE! MERCY. . . THERE WAS NOTHING ONLY DARKNESS. . . THIS TERRIBLE AWAKENING STAYED WITH US. . . WE FELT THAT AN ABYSS WAS ABOUT TO OPEN BENEATH OUR BODIES. ” PP. 22 -23 CHIMNEY • “. . WE SAW THIS TIME THAT FLAMES WERE GUSHING OUT A TALL CHIMNEY INTO THE BLACK SKY. . . P. 25 . . . IN FRONT OF US FLAMES. IN THE AIR THE SMELL OF BURNING FLESH. IT MUST HAVE BEEN MIDNIGHT. WE HAD ARRIVED AT BIRKENAU, RECEPTION CENTER FOR AUSCHWITZ

THE CAMPS HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=IMAGES+OF+AUSCHWITZ+BIRKENAU&SOURCE=LNMS&TBM=ISCH&SA=X&EI=NZTOU 46 HDTGEYASNZIHACA&VED=0 CAYQ_AUOAQ&BIW=1366&BI H=573#Q=IMAGES+OF+AUSCHWITZ+BIRKENAU%2 BFLAMES&TBM=ISCH&FACRC=_&IMGDII=_&IMGRC=NFCAXWNW_OAWUM%253 A%3 BJ 8 XCKV 5 HTDTOJM%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 F THEBARKINGFOX. FILES. WORDPRESS. COM%252 F 2014%252 F 03%252 FBFB 140331 -ARBEIT-MACHTFREI. JPG%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FTHEBARKINGFOX. WORDPRESS. COM%252 F 2014%252 F 03%252 F 30%252 FWHAT-I-SAW-IN-AUSCHWITZ%252 F%3 B 650%3 B 434 BIRKENAU CHIMNEY FLAMES “. . WE SAW THIS TIME THAT FLAMES WERE GUSHING OUT A TALL CHIMNEY INTO THE BLACK SKY. . . P. 25. . . FLAMES P. 27 IN FRONT OF US FLAMES. IN THE AIR THE SMELL OF BURNING FLESH. IT MUST HAVE BEEN MIDNIGHT. WE HAD ARRIVED AT BIRKENAU, RECEPTION CENTER FOR AUSCHWITZ

GOODNESS WITHIN Lies about age their savior disappears into “night shadows”p. 28 Elie must be 18 not 15; father must be 40 and not 50 The beating of Elie by Idek’s savage “. . . little brother. . . Don’t cry. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, frenzyfor later on. . . wait. ” p. 51 The anecdote of the French girl “Many years later, in Paris. . . a very beautiful woman with black hair and dreamy eyes. I had seen those eyes before. It was she. ” p. 51 Elie is warned at hospital to get out before next A rumor of Front drawing nearer. -My neighbor , the faceless one, selection and these words came from “a faceless said: “Don’t be fooled by illusions. Hitler has made it very clear that shape” -discuss p. 75 he will annihilate the Jews before the clock strike s twelve, before they can hear the last stroke.

BRUTALITY WITHIN Idek ( Kapo)- beats Elie & later his father with an iron bar rapes young Polish girl and whips Elie until he faints-and for his silence, p. 56 Franek- the foreman- wants Elie’s gold tooth The beating of Elie by Idek’s savage frenzy. The anecdote of the French girl “ At first my father crouched under the blows, then he broke in two, like a dry tree struck by lightning, and collapsed. . . What is more the anger I felt at the moment was not directed against the Kapo, but against my father. . . for not knowing how to avoid Idek’s outbreak. This is what the concentration camp life had made of me. ” p. 52 After thrashing Elie’s father for 2 weeks gets gold crown and ration of bread “. . . little brother. . . Don’t cry. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, for later on. . . wait. ” p. 51 “Many years later, in Paris. . . a very beautiful woman with black hair and dreamy eyes. I had seen those eyes before. It was she. ” p. 51

INHUMANITY “. . a black gallows”p. 58 Long live liberty! A curse upon Germany!”p. 60 “Ten thousand prisoners paid their last respects, p. 60 Sabotage of electric power station- the Dutchman and the pipel -The hanging of the “sad little angel”p. 61 - “. . being so light the child was still alive. . . For more than half an hour. . . ”p. 62 the youth from Warsaw- a condemned man p. 59 refuses to be blindfolded. All prisoners had to march past the hanged man- no one wept After execution Elie states he found the soup excellent that evening” - why? “Where is God? Where is He? ” p. 61 They all wept and that night the “soup tasted of corpses”p. 62 And Elie continues to lose faith in his God.

CHARACTERS AKIBA DRUMER • • • A DEVOUT MYSTIC • BEAUTIFUL VOICE. LOSES HIS FAITH AT BUNA • • A FELLOW PRISONER AT AUSCHWITZ AND BUNA, IDEK • THE KAPO OF THE MUSICIAN'S BLOCK AT BUNA. • • OFTEN HAS VIOLENT RAGES AIMED OTHER PRISONERS. ELIEZER CATCHES HIM HAVING SEX WITH A YOUNG POLISH GIRL LOSES HIS WILL TO LIVE. SENT TO THE CREMATORIES AFTER THE SELECTION AT BUNA. ALPHONSE IDEK HAS ELIEZER LASHED TWENTY-FIVE TIMES. • • A GERMAN JEW LEADER OF THE MUSICIAN'S BLOCK AT BUNA. HE IS VERY GENEROUS- TRIES TO GIVE HIS EXTRA SOUP TO THOSE IN NEED.

CONFLICT & THEME & CONFLICT SETTING & THEME & SETTING Themes: Journey motif unity journey of self discovery, identity->usually but in this case-> fear, horror, disbelief and anxiety

CONFLICT • ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN FAITH IN A BENEVOLENT GOD • ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE WITH HIS FAITH IS A DOMINANT CONFLICT IN NIGHT. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK, HIS FAITH IN GOD IS ABSOLUTE. WHEN ASKED WHY HE PRAYS TO GOD, HE ANSWERS, “WHY DID I PRAY? . . . WHY DID I LIVE? WHY DID I BREATHE? ” HIS BELIEF IN AN OMNIPOTENT, BENEVOLENT GOD IS UNCONDITIONAL, AND HE CANNOT IMAGINE LIVING WITHOUT FAITH IN A DIVINE POWER. BUT THIS FAITH IS SHAKEN BY HIS EXPERIENCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST.

CONFLICT RESULTS FROM CORE BELIEF • INITIALLY, ELIEZER’S FAITH IS A PRODUCT OF HIS STUDIES IN JEWISH MYSTICISM • IT TEACH HIM THAT GOD IS EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD, NOTHING EXISTS WITHOUT GOD, THAT IN FACT EVERYTHING IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD IS A REFLECTION OF THE DIVINE WORLD • NOTE : ELIEZER HAS GROWN UP BELIEVING THAT EVERYTHING ON EARTH REFLECTS GOD’S HOLINESS AND POWER • RELATIONSHIP TO GOD IS A PERSONAL ONE • HIS FAITH IS GROUNDED IN THE IDEA THAT GOD TOUCHES EVERY ASPECT OF DAILY LIFE. • GOD IS GOOD + GOD IS EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD = THEREFORE, THE WORLD MUST BE GOOD. BUT THE REALITY DOES NOT MATCH IT CONFLICTS

FATHER-SON BONDS/RELATIONSHIP/FAMILIAL BONDS INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT • ON FOUR OCCASIONS, ELIE MENTIONS SONS MISTREATING FATHERS AND HE FINDS THIS IRREPRESSIBLE: 1. THE FIGHT FOR FOOD THAT HE WITNESSES ON THE TRAIN TO BUCHENWALD, IN WHICH A SON BEATS HIS FATHER TO DEATH. 2. THE PIPEL WHO ABUSED HIS FATHER 3. RABBI ELIAHOU’S SON 4. WHEN HE ACTS NO DIFFERENT THAN ELIAHOU’S SON ACTS OF CRUELTY ARE PROVOKED BY THE CONDITIONS THE PRISONERS ARE FORCED TO ENDURE. IN ORDER TO SAVE THEMSELVES, THESE SONS SACRIFICE THEIR FATHERS.

HOW DOE THIS CONNECT TO ISAAC AND ABRAHAM? • THE GUILT AND DESPAIR THAT ELIE FEELS AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH - WHOSE NAME DID ELIE’S FATHER UTTER IN HIS LAST BREATH? • DESPITE THE LOVE AND CARE HE HAS SHOWN HIS FATHER, ELIEZER FEELS THAT HE HAS SOMEHOW SACRIFICED HIS FATHER FOR HIS OWN SAFETY. GIVE EXAMPLES. • THIS SACRIFICE IS THE INVERSE OF THE AKEDAH, IN WHICH A FATHER (ABRAHAM) IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE HIS SON (ISAAC). DISCUSS HOW CHILDREN OFTEN TAKE ON THE ROLE OF PARENT • NIGHT’S REVERSAL OF THIS EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATES HOW THE HOLOCAUST HAS TURNED ELIEZER’S ENTIRE WORLD TOPSY TURVY. • YET, ELIEZER’S DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS BEHAVIOR TOWARD HIS FATHER SEEM TO INVALIDATE HIS GUILTY FEELINGS. • HE DEPENDS ON HIS FATHER FOR SUPPORT, AND HIS LOVE FOR HIS FATHER ALLOWS HIM TO ENDURE. DURING THE LONG RUN TO GLEIWITZ • “MY FATHER’S PRESENCE WAS THE ONLY THING THAT STOPPED ME [FROM ALLOWING MYSELF TO DIE]. . I HAD NO RIGHT TO LET MYSELF DIE. WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT ME? I WAS HIS ONLY SUPPORT. ” • THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS CO-DEPENDENT THEREBY DEMONSTRATING THAT ELIEZER’S LOVE AND COMMITMENT ARE STRONGER FORCES OF SURVIVAL THAN HIS INSTINCT FOR SELF-PRESERVATION AND SURVIVAL.

HOW THEN DOES ELIE’S FAITH SURVIVE? ELIEZER MANAGES TO RETAIN SOME OF THIS FAITH THROUGHOUT HIS EXPERIENCES- HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? THE HANGING OF THE PIPEL- A KEY SCENE PP. 64 -54 FOR GOD’S SAKE, WHERE IS GOD? AND FROM WITHIN ME, I HEARD A VOICE ANSWER: WHERE IS HE/ THIS IS WHERE –HANGING FROM THE GALLOWS…THAT NIGHT, THE SOUP TASTED OF CORPSES AT CERTAIN MOMENTS: 1. DURING HIS FIRST NIGHT IN THE CAMP AND 2. DURING THE HANGING OF THE PIPEL—ELIEZER DOES QUESTION HIS FAITH BUT HIS INTERNAL CONFLICT SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH A COMPLETE LOSS OF FAITH. THIS STRUGGLE DOESN’T DIMINISH HIS BELIEF IN GOD; RATHER, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO THE EXISTENCE OF THAT BELIEF. DISCUSS WHY THIS IS SO…

THE ANGELIC PIPEL HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=IMAGE+OF+PIPEL+IN+ELIE+WIESEL&BIW=1366&BIH=573&TBM=ISCH&IMGIL=FTZNPP_JBSEKCM%253 A%253 BHTTPS%253 A%252 FENCRYPTEDTBN 3. GSTATIC. COM%252 FIMAGES%253 FQ%253 DTBN%253 AAND 9 GCSG-BYJKBDKOLVUWS 0 ARQ 7 ZZO 2 RMW 5 OJ 97 IMM 8 YBBHSO 7 HFSYG%253 B 1275%253 B 1755%253 BJESM 3_VFSTMX 5 M%253 BHTTP%25253 A%25252 FAMELIALH. DEVIANTART. COM%25252 FART%25252 FELIE-WIESEL 27122294&SOURCE=IU&USG=__Q 4 AVMU 2 JXIMZDVAK 7 NVOLM 5 B 8 -S%3 D&SA=X&EI=WN 5 RU 8 ZLO 42 CYASQJICABQ&VED=0 CDSQ 9 QEWBW#FACRC=_&IMGDII=_&IMGRC=ZX 1 VP 3 L 2 TVXUMM%253 A%3 BP 1 SURKVSMV 4 TM%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FFC 01. DEVIANTART. NET%252 FFS 70%252 FF%252 F 2012%252 F 076%252 FF%252 F 4%252 FNIGHT__THE_ANGELIC_PIPEL_PG_3_BY_SABREISKD 4 T 1 ZBZ. GIF%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FSABREISK. DEVIANTART. COM%252 FART%252 FNIGHT-THE-ANGELIC-PIPEL-PG-3 -290666015%3 B 2550%3 B 3300 Do we regard Hitler as a prophet? ( Elie) Faceless one: “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept. . . all his promises to the Jewish people. p. 77"

REMEMBER • WHEN MOSHE THE BEADLE IS ASKED WHY HE PRAYS, HE REPLIES, “I PRAY TO THE GOD WITHIN ME THAT HE WILL GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO ASK HIM THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. ” • THEREFORE, QUESTIONING IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE IDEA OF FAITH IN GOD. THE HOLOCAUST FORCES ELIEZER TO ASK HORRINDOUS QUESTIONS: • ABOUT THE NATURE OF GOOD AND EVIL • ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT GOD EXISTS • HAS GOD ABANDONED HIM? THEM? • BUT THE VERY FACT THAT HE ASKS THESE QUESTIONS REFLECTS HIS COMMITMENT TO GOD. • DISCUSSING HIS OWN EXPERIENCE, WIESEL ONCE WROTE, “MY ANGER RISES UP WITHIN FAITH AND NOT OUTSIDE IT. ” ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE REFLECTS SUCH A SENTIMENT. ONLY IN THE LOWEST MOMENTS OF HIS FAITH DOES HE TURN HIS BACK ON GOD. INDEED, EVEN WHEN ELIEZER SAYS THAT HE HAS GIVEN UP ON GOD COMPLETELY, WIESEL’S CONSTANT USE OF RELIGIOUS METAPHORS UNDERCUTS WHAT ELIEZER SAYS HE BELIEVES. ELIEZER EVEN REFERS TO BIBLICAL PASSAGES WHEN HE DENIES HIS FAITH. WHEN HE FEARS THAT HE MIGHT ABANDON HIS FATHER, HE PRAYS TO GOD, AND, AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH, HE EXPRESSES REGRET THAT THERE WAS NO RELIGIOUS MEMORIAL. AT THE END OF THE BOOK, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS BEEN FOREVER CHANGED BY HIS HOLOCAUST EXPERIENCE, ELIEZER EMERGES WITH HIS FAITH INTACT.

GOOD VERSUS EVIL: THEME AND INTERNAL CONFLICT • ELIEZER’S FAITH IN THE GOODNESS OF THE WORLD IS IRREPARABLY SHAKEN, • THE CRUELTY AND EVIL HE WITNESSES DURING THE HOLOCAUST CAUSE HIM TO QUESTION AND DESPAIR • ELIE CANNOT IMAGINE THAT THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS’ UNBELIEVABLE INHUMANE CRUELTY COULD POSSIBLY REFLECT THE DIVINE • HOW CAN A CARING GOD BE PART OF SUCH DEPRAVITY? HOW CAN OMNIPOTENT GOD ALLOW SUCH BRUTALITY? BRUTALITY FROM HIS OPPRESSOR AS WELL AS FELLOW PRISONERS? • HOW CAN ONE THE BELIEVE THAT HUMANKIND IS ESSENTIALLY GOOD? • DUAL NATURE OF HUMANKIND: THE HOLOCAUST EXPOSES THE SELFISHNESS, EVIL, AND CRUELTY OF WHICH EVERYBODY—NOT ONLY THE NAZIS, BUT ALSO HIS FELLOW PRISONERS, HIS FELLOW JEWS, EVEN HIMSELF—IS CAPABLE. • LOGICALLY HE SURMISES - IF THE WORLD IS SO BRUTAL, HE FEELS, THEN GOD EITHER MUST BE JUST AS BRUTAL OR MUST NOT EXIST AT ALL! • BUT IN THE END HIS FAITH SURVIVES! WHY?

SILENCE: THEME AND INTERNAL CONFLICT WHERE IS GOD? “NEVER SHALL I FORGET THAT NOCTURNAL SILENCE WHICH DEPRIVED ME, FOR ALL ETERNITY, OF THE DESIRE TO LIVE. ” THE IDEA OF GOD’S SILENCE THAT ELIE FINDS MOST TROUBLING, AS THIS DESCRIPTION OF AN EVENT AT BUNA REVEALS: AS THE GESTAPO HANGS A YOUNG BOY, A MAN ASKS, “WHERE IS GOD? ” YET THE ONLY RESPONSE IS “[T]OTAL SILENCE THROUGHOUT THE CAMP. ”P. 64 NOTE EVEN THE PIPEL IS SILENT! ELIEZER AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE LEFT TO WONDER HOW AN OMNISCIENT GOD CAN ALLOW SUCH INHUMANITY TO HAPPEN, P. 65 THE EXISTENCE OF THIS HORROR, AND THE SILENCE OF GOD, FOREVER ERODES ELIEZER’S FAITH IN GOD.

SILENCE- AKEDA-THE BINDING OF ISAAC THEME AND INTERNAL/EXTERNAL CONFLICT • IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT GOD’S SILENCE DURING THE HANGING OF THE YOUNG BOY RECALLS THE STORY OF THE AKEDAH—THE BINDING OF ISAAC—FOUND IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES (GENESIS 22). • GOD DECIDES TO TEST THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM BY ASKING HIM TO SACRIFICE HIS ONLY SON, ISAAC. ABRAHAM DOES NOT DOUBT HIS GOD, AND HE TIES ISAAC TO A SACRIFICIAL ALTAR. HE RAISES A KNIFE TO KILL THE BOY, BUT AT THE LAST MINUTE GOD SENDS AN ANGEL TO SAVE ISAAC. THE ANGEL EXPLAINS THAT GOD MERELY WANTED TO TEST ABRAHAM’S FAITH AND, OF COURSE, WOULD NEVER PERMIT HIM TO SHED INNOCENT BLOOD. • HOWEVER THE GOD IN NIGHT, THE GOD IS SILENT. • NIGHT CAN BE READ AS A REVERSAL OF THE ABRAHAM/ISAAC STORY: AT THE MOMENT OF A SACRIFICE, GOD DOES NOT INTERVENE TO SAVE INNOCENT LIVES. • THERE IS NO ANGEL DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN AS MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN BURN IN THE CREMATORIUMS, OR AT THE BEATINGS … FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN ELIEZER’S FATHER LIES BEATEN AND BLOODIED- WHERE IS THE ANGEL THEN? WHERE IS GOD? • WHEN ELIEZER AND THE OTHER PRISONERS CALL OUT FOR GOD, AND THEIR ONLY RESPONSE IS SILENCE • DURING HIS FIRST NIGHT AT BIRKENAU, ELIEZER SAYS, “THE ETERNAL. . . WAS SILENT. WHAT HAD I TO THANK HIM FOR? ” • THE LESSON ELIE LEARNS IS THE REVERSE OF THE LESSON/MORAL OF THE AKEDAH- GOD DEMANDS SACRIFICE BUT IS ULTIMATELY COMPASSIONATE. DURING THE HOLOCAUST, HOWEVER, ELIEZER FEELS THAT GOD’S SILENCE ILLUSTRATES THE ABSENCE OF GOD’S COMPASSION SO DOES HE EVEN EXIST?

SILENCE • THERE IS ALSO A SECOND TYPE OF SILENCE OPERATING THROUGHOUT NIGHT: THE SILENCE AND FEAR OF THE VICTIMS, AND THE LACK OF RESISTANCE TO THE NAZI THREAT. • WHEN ELIE’S FATHER IS BEATEN AT THE END OF HIS LIFE, ELIEZER REMEMBERS, “I DID NOT MOVE. I WAS AFRAID, ” AND HE FEELS GUILTY, DESPAIR, AND SORROWABOUT HIS INABILITY TO ACT. • IT IS IMPLIED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT THAT SILENCE AND PASSIVITYARE WHAT PERMITTED THE HOLOCAUST TO CONTINUE. DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THIS IMPLICATION? • WIESEL’S WRITING OF NIGHT IS ITSELF AN ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE SILENCE, TO RECALL TO THE WORLD THAT REMAINED SILENT LOUDLY THE ATROCITIES OF THE HOLOCAUST -TO TRY TO PREVENT ANYTHING SO HORRIBLE FROM EVER

INHUMANITY TOWARD OTHER HUMANS: THEME & INTERNAL CONFLICT • HOW COULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO BURN PEOPLE, CHILDREN, AND FOR THE WORLD TO KEEP SILENT? NO, NONE OF THIS COULD BE TRUE. ”P. 30 • INTERNAL CONFLICT- ELIEZER’S SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE OWES TO HIS SHAKEN FAITH NOT ONLY IN GOD BUT IN EVERYTHING AROUND HIM. AFTER EXPERIENCING SUCH CRUELTY, ELIEZER CAN NO LONGER MAKE SENSE OF HIS WORLD. HIS DISILLUSIONMENT RESULTS FROM HIS PAINFUL EXPERIENCE WITH NAZI PERSECUTION, BUT ALSO FROM THE CRUELTY HE SEES FELLOW PRISONERS INFLICT ON EACH OTHER. ELIEZER ALSO BECOMES AWARE OF THE CRUELTY OF WHICH HE HIMSELF IS CAPABLE. EVERYTHING HE EXPERIENCES IN THE WAR SHOWS HIM HOW HORRIBLY PEOPLE CAN TREAT ONE ANOTHER—A REVELATION THAT TROUBLES HIM DEEPLY. • THE FIRST INSENSIBLE CRUELTY ELIEZER EXPERIENCES IS THAT OF THE NAZIS. YET, WHEN THE NAZIS FIRST APPEAR, THEY DO NOT SEEM MONSTROUS IN ANY WAY. ELIEZER RECOUNTS, “[O]UR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE GERMANS WERE MOST REASSURING. . THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD THEIR HOSTS WAS DISTANT, BUT POLITE. ” SO MANY ASPECTS OF THE HOLOCAUST ARE INCOMPREHENSIBLE, BUT PERHAPS THE MOST DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND IS HOW HUMAN BEINGS COULD SO CALLOUSLY SLAUGHTER MILLIONS OF INNOCENT VICTIMS. WIESEL HIGHLIGHTS THIS INCOMPREHENSIBLE TRAGEDY BY PULLING THE NAZIS INTO FOCUS FIRST AS HUMAN BEINGS, AND THEN, AS THE MEMOIR SHIFTS TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, SHOWING THE BRUTAL ATROCITIES THAT THEY COMMITTED.

CRUELTY BREED CRUELTY; INHUMANITY BREEDS INHUMANITY • FURTHERMORE, NIGHT DEMONSTRATES THAT CRUELTY BREEDS CRUELTY. INSTEAD OF COMFORTING EACH OTHER IN TIMES OF DIFFICULTY, THE PRISONERS RESPOND TO THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES BY TURNING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER. NEAR THE END OF THE WORK, A KAPO SAYS TO ELIEZER, “HERE, EVERY MAN HAS TO FIGHT FOR HIMSELF AND NOT THINK OF ANYONE ELSE. . HERE, THERE ARE NO FATHERS, NO BROTHERS, NO FRIENDS. EVERYONE LIVES AND DIES FOR HIMSELF ALONE. ” IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT A KAPO MAKES THIS REMARK TO THE NARRATOR, BECAUSE KAPOS WERE THEMSELVES PRISONERS PLACED IN CHARGE OF OTHER PRISONERS. THEY ENJOYED A RELATIVELY BETTER (THOUGH STILL HORRENDOUS) QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE CAMP, BUT THEY AIDED THE NAZI MISSION AND OFTEN BEHAVED CRUELLY TOWARD PRISONERS IN THEIR CHARGE. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIFTH SECTION, ELIEZER REFERS TO THEM AS “FUNCTIONARIES OF DEATH. ” THE KAPOS’ POSITION SYMBOLIZES THE WAY THE HOLOCAUST’S CRUELTY BRED CRUELTY IN ITS VICTIMS, TURNING PEOPLE AGAINST EACH OTHER, AS SELF-PRESERVATION BECAME THE HIGHEST VIRTUE.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE • DURING THE FIRST SECTIONS OF NIGHT, THERE ARE FREQUENT MENTIONS OF RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE. ELIEZER BEGINS HIS STORY MENTIONING THE TALMUD AND HIS JEWISH STUDIES AND PRAYER RITUALS. HE IS UPSET THAT THE NAZIS DESECRATE THE SABBATH AND HIS SYNAGOGUE. BY THE END OF NIGHT, HOWEVER, MENTIONS OF JEWISH OBSERVANCE HAVE ALMOST VANISHED FROM THE TEXT. MOST STRIKING, ELIEZER DOES NOT MENTION THE KADDISH BY NAME AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH, AND SAYS ONLY THAT “[T]HERE WERE NO PRAYERS AT HIS GRAVE. NO CANDLES WERE LIT IN HIS MEMORY. ” BY SPECIFICALLY AVOIDING JEWISH TERMINOLOGY, ELIEZER IMPLIES THAT RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE HAS CEASED TO BE A PART OF HIS LIFE. ELIEZER’S FEELINGS ABOUT THIS LOSS ARE AMBIGUOUS: HE HAS CLAIMED THAT HE HAS LOST ALL FAITH IN GOD, YET THERE IS CLEARLY REGRET AND SADNESS IN HIS TONE WHEN HE DISCUSSES THE LACK OF A RELIGIOUS MEMORIAL FOR HIS FATHER. • ALTHOUGH ELIEZER’S EXPLICIT MENTIONS OF RELIGION VANISH, RELIGIOUS METAPHOR HOLDS NIGHT’S ENTIRE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE TOGETHER. AS NOTED ABOVE, THE AKEDAH IS A FOUNDATIONAL METAPHOR FOR THE WORK. THROUGHOUT THE MEMOIR, FURTHERMORE, WIESEL INDIRECTLY REFERS TO BIBLICAL PASSAGES (PSALM 150, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN ELIEZER DISCUSSES HIS LOSS OF FAITH) AND JEWISH TRADITION (THE NAZIS’ SELECTIONS ON YOM KIPPUR OF WHICH PRISONERS WILL DIE —A CRUEL VERSION OF THE JEWISH BELIEF THAT GOD SELECTS WHO WILL LIVE AND WHO WILL DIE DURING THE DAYS OF AWE). THOUGH ELIEZER CLAIMS THAT RELIGION AND FAITH ARE NO LONGER PART OF HIS LIFE, BOTH NEVERTHELESS FORM A TACIT FOUNDATION FOR HIS ENTIRE STORY.

CONFLICT • ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE WITH HIS FAITH IS A DOMINANT CONFLICT IN NIGHT.

THEME • ELIEZER’S STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN FAITH IN A BENEVOLENT GOD • LOOK FOR QUOTES THAT REFLECT THIS THEME Rule of concentration camp -“no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone. ” Death of civilization- savagery

MIRROR OF DEATH Chapter 9: Living Death reread pp 107 -109 “ After my father’s death, nothing could touch me anymore. ”p. 107 - survival theme only wanted to eat didn’t think of father or mother Mirror- “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me. ” p. 109 Thematic statement, authorial intrusion And Elie was silent for ten years - a self imposed vow Elie has learned: the darkest side of humanity L of F dual nature- man is both heroic and

HTTPS: //WWW. GOOGLE. CA/SEARCH? Q=IMAGE+OF+ELIE+WIESEL+GET+NOBEL+PEACE+PRIZE&BIW=1366&BIH=573&TBM=ISCH&IMGIL=S 3 MEGQSIAHDSYM%253 A%253 BHTTPS%253 A%252 FENCRYPTE D-TBN 2. GSTATIC. COM%252 FIMAGES%253 FQ%253 DTBN%253 AAND 9 GCRUG 6 R 8 KKYEJVGE 0 SRYELGTDLM 1 BRVGVXCFEOPETCORRULYA 6 E%253 B 2048%253 B 1459%253 BCCIMRCAGB 3 F 4 MM%253 BHTTP%25253 A%25252 FOBSERVER. COM%25252 F 2012%25252 F 08%25252 FBLA MELESS-AND-UPRIGHT-BUT-NOT-THAT-GOOD-ELIE-WIESEL-IS-A-BETTER-SPOKESMAN-THAN-WRITER%25252 F&SOURCE=IU&USG=__GP 1 JMDXZ_CLFCSB 13 CPAIHPI 8 A%3 D&SA=X&EI=NFBOU 4 BBAOMRYATF_4 LQDW&VED=0 CDAQ 9 QEWAW#FACRC=_&IMGDII=_&IMGRC=8 GDB 3 HFOX 9 GYPM%253 A%3 BW 9 J 9 FUPPWQI 9 RM%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FWWW. SA VE-ANTHONY. COM%252 FUPLOADS%252 F 1%252 F 11113117%252 F 800229_ORIG. JPG%3 BHTTP%253 A%252 FWWW. SAVEANTHONY. COM%252 FTEACUTEMOIGNAGESTESTIMONIES. HTML%3 B 262%3 B 294

A FINAL THOUGHT • “FOR IN THE END, IT IS ALL ABOUT MEMORY, ITS SOURCES AND ITS MAGNITUDE, AND, OF COURSE, ITS CONSEQUENCES. ” ― ELIE WIESEL, NIGHT • HTTP: //WWW. YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH? V=NXAQM 09 LPNIHTTP: • //WWW. YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH? V=NXAQM 09 LPNI