NIGHT Memoir by Elie Wiesel Context of Night

NIGHT Memoir by : Elie Wiesel

Context of Night • Time : during WWII –mostly from 1941 -1945 • Places : Sighet, Romania Auschwitz and Buna, Poland Buchenwald, Germany

WWII Alliances Axis Germany Italy Japan(1941) Vs. Allies France England Canada U. S. S. R. (sovietsred army) (1940) U. S. A. (1941)

Camps • In total, the Nazis established about 42, 500 camps and ghettoes between 1933 and 1945. • These camps were used as forced-labor camps, transit camps(between destinations), and extermination camps. • Millions of people were imprisoned, abused, and systematically murdered in the various types of camps. Under the management of SS guards, the Nazis and their collaborators murdered more than 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.

Eliezer Wiesel • Born September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Romania. • Died July 2 nd 2016 in New-York (87 yrs old). • In 1944, when Elie was 15, he was deported to Auschwitz. • When they arrived at the camp, he and his father were warned to lie about their ages. Elie said he was 18 and his father said he was 40 instead of 50. • They were sent to be slave laborers.

Eliezer Wiesel • Elie and his father survived Auschwitz and the Buna labor camp for eight months. • They endured beatings, excessive work, starvation, and other torture. • In the winter 1944 -45, the inmates of Buna were evacuated as the Allies were getting closer. • For ten days they were forced to run, then, crammed into freight cars, they were sent to Buchenwald. • Of the 20, 000 prisoners who left Buna, only 6, 000 survived.

Poland

Eliezer Wiesel • He was freed from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945 and became sick with intestinal problems. • After several days in the hospital, Elie wrote an outline for a book describing the Holocaust. • He wasn’t ready to publicize his experience yet, but he promised himself he would in ten years.

Eliezer Wiesel • Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. • Taught humanities at Boston University. • One of the creators of the United States Holocaust Memoriam Museum (www. ushmm. org) • Believed that persecution is an experience all people must recognize and protest.

Why Should We Read This Book In Class? • « Sometimes we must interfere… Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must- at that moment- become the center of the universe. » • Learn from our mistakes!

Outline of the Main Themes • Struggle to maintain faith in God. • Inhumanity toward other humans. • The importance of the Father-Son bond. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO TAKE NOTES WHEN EXAMPLES OF THESE IDEAS PRESENT THEMSELVES IN THE BOOK WITH PAGE NUMBER (CAN BE USED AS EXAMPLES IN YOUR ESSAY).

Group OP: research topics relevant to the novel NIGHT 3 minutes person (minimum) Individual or groups of 2

4 Topics that must be explored Camps: – BUCHENWALD – AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU – RAVENSBRUCK (women’s camp) People: – DR. JOSEPH MENGELE Events:

Topics CAMPS EVENTS PEOPLE Heinrich Himmler Kristallnacht Dachau Adolf Eichmann Warsaw Ghetto/Krakow Ghetto Gross-Rosen Reinhard Heydrich Death Marches Majdanek Oskar Schindler Collaboration Bergen-Belsen Alicia Appleman-Jurman The murder of the disabled Inge Auerbacher Kindertransport Marion Blumenthal Lazan Nuremberg Trials Hans Frankenthal Simon Wiesenthal The Genocide in Darfur

Website : United States Holocaust Memorial Museum USHMM. org