Night Elie Wiesel Meet the Author When Elie

Night Elie Wiesel

Meet the Author When Elie Wiesel (1928 -2016) was fifteen years old, the Jewish people in his Romanian village were deported and imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Wiesel survived his ordeal in the concentration camps, but his parents did not. He has spent his life giving testimony to his experiences and speaking out against hatred throughout the world. Ironically, Wiesel was almost killed by a taxicab only two weeks after he moved to NYC in the mid-1950’s.

Background Stark monuments to Holocaust victims and startling memorial sculptures cannot convey the horror so many families met. Elie Wiesel testifies to the cruelty suffered by millions, as he recounts his own unlikely survival.

Background During World War II, Nazi concentration camps were scenes of unspeakable horror. • • • Firing squads Gas chambers Medical experiments Slave labor Starvation Disease Full facts about the systematic murder of Jews and other targeted groups were not known until the Nazis’ defeat. By 1945, about twelve million people had been killed.

Literary Focus: Memoir A memoir is a type of autobiography, an author’s written account of his or her own life. A memoir • is more tightly focused than other autobiographies • concentrates on a particular period, often one of historical importance • varies in its intended impact

Memoirs continued Memoirs serve different purposes. Some may show historical events affect individuals’ lives make political or philosophical points set the record straight about a series of events A memoir may have any or all of these purposes.

Memoirs continued Nearly everything Elie Wiesel has written or said publicly has been a testimony intended to prevent death camp atrocities from happening again. In addition to bearing witness to his own experiences, Wiesel has denounced the persecution of • • Cambodians Soviet Jews South African blacks Kosovar refugees

Setting(s) n n n 1941 -Spring 1944 Sighet, Transylvania (Romania) – Eliezer’s hometown Concentration/work camps • Auschwitz • Buchenwald • Buna • Gleiwitz

Cultural Terms to Know n n n n n Beadle: a church official Talmud: Rabbinic writings on the practices of orthodox Judaism. Cabbala [kabala]: study of Hebrew scripture. Yom Kippur: Jews in observance of Jewish Holiday. Kaddish: Jewish prayer for the dead. Fascist: overly nationalist beliefs; oppressive style government w/ a dictator. Gestapo: the German secret police SS: German police/soldier Kapo: a Jewish prisoner appointed by Nazis as labor foreman.

Literary Terms to Know n n n Theme Irony (both verbal and dramatic) Plot elements • • • n n Exposition Rising action Climax Falling action Conclusion Internal and external conflicts Symbolism

Themes n n n Father-son bonds (what psychological effects does a traumatic event have on family bonds? ) Faith and the belief in a benevolent god Inhumanity toward other human beings (what is power capable of doing if a person is told or brought to believe that he/she is superior to others? )

History n n Nazi Germany involved propaganda in order to turn Germans against all Jews. Cartoons such as this were common in Nazi Germany. Children were even taught in the schools that Jews were inferior.

Hitler used many tactics to create a nationalist state. One tactic was an identifiable symbol.

Nuremburg Laws n n Rules put in place to identify those of the Jewish faith. These rules outlined physical features and bloodlines to determine who was Jewish and who was not.

Prejudice and Discrimination Across Cultures Rwandan Conflict Holocaust American Slavery

Elie Wiesel age 15

Character Chart Character Identifying traits, attitudes Relevance / importance Textual support Elie Pious Jewish teenager from Sighet Narrator (first person); author “ Mr. Wiesel Moshe *You will need space for 14 characters

Characters for Chart n n n Eliezer (and his family) Eliezer’s father Moche the Beadle Bela Katz Franek Idek Dr. Mengele Yossi and Tibi Akiba Drumer Juliek Rabbi Eliahou Zalman