NIGHT By Elie Wiesel Night The original title

NIGHT By Elie Wiesel

Night � The original title given to this book was And the World has Remained Silent. � After 10 years of silence, Wiesel finally decided to write about his experiences in the Holocaust with his novel, Night.

Night Facts about the Holocaust � � � It began in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came into power and ended in 1944. The term "Holocaust, " originally from the Greek word "holokauston" which means "sacrifice by fire”. In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the disabled for persecution.

Adolf Hitler

Night Facts about the Holocaust � It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of these were Jews (which represented two-thirds of the Jewish population).

Night

Night Terms Ghettos: Jews were forced to leave their homes and move into small apartments in specific areas of the city. These small apartments were often extremely crowded. In the beginning, some of the ghettos were open which meant Jews could leave if they were back by a certain curfew, but later they were closed and no Jewish inhabitant would be allowed to leave.

Night

Night Concentration and Extermination Camps � Although many people refer to all Nazi camps as "concentration camps, " there were actually a number of different kinds of camps, including concentration camps, extermination camps, labor camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and transit camps.

Night � These camps were used for a range of purposes including forced-labor camps, transit camps which served as temporary way stations, and extermination camps built primarily or exclusively for mass murder.

Sleeping Arrangements

Transit Camp

Extermination Camp

Gas Chambers

Labour Camp

The Gestapo � � The gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. In the beginning the Gestapo was charged with guarding and supervising the ghettos, imposing forced labor, and causing starvation and disease in an effort to decimate the ghetto inhabitants.

The Gestapo � Later, the Gestapo was called upon to supervise the dispatch of the Jews to the camps specially adapted or constructed for the program of mass murder � The units were taught many torture techniques, and were also taught many of the practices that German doctors tested on the inmates of concentration camps. During its tenure, the Gestapo operated without any restrictions from the civil authority, meaning that its members could not be tried for any of their police practices. This unconditional authority added an elitist element to the Gestapo; its members knew that whatever actions they took, no consequences would arise.