Elie Wiesel’s Night

“They fought alone, they suffered alone, they lived alone, but they did not die alone, for something in all of us died with them.”

- Wiesel

Elie Wiesel

“To remain silent and

indifferent is the greatest sin

of all.” - Wiesel

1928 Born in Sighet, Romania

-Population of 15,000 Jewish souls before World War II

-Only a handful of them live in the town today

Holocaust

- Not one event, cause or person

- Collection of Fascism, irresponsible civic leadership, strong propaganda and economic depression.

- Systematic persecution and eventual murder of the Jewish population in Europe.

- Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Catholics and mentally retarded people were victimized.

- Hitler is responsible for the death of over six million (6,000,000) Jewish people.

Night• A memoir about what

the Holocaust did to Wiesel, to Jews, and to humanity.

• Wiesel shows the spiritual beating the Jews suffered, the loss of faith they suffered, and the physical brutality they suffered.

• At the end of the war, Elie feels he has been robbed of his soul. He has lost all faith in God and his fellow man, and these losses are the obstacles he must overcome.

1944 Deported to Auschwitz

- Auschwitz was a Nazi death camp during the Holocaust

- Over 4 million Nazi prisoners died

- Mostly Europeans of Jewish decent

- Prisoners were transported there from 20 different countries.

- Elie Weisel’s family perished while at the death camp

- Liberated by Russian troops on January 27, 1945

Definitions• Concentration Camp: a camp

primarily used for slave labor.• Death Camp: a camp

dedicated to the efficient murder of Jews. The term was also used for concentration camps where 1000s died of starvation and disease.

• Auschwitz: the largest concentration camp that later became a death camp. Over 200,000 Jews died at this camp.

Entrance to Auschwitz “Work makes you free”

Guard station at Auschwitz

Perimeter fencing surrounding Auschwitz

Internal courtyard at Auschwitz

Execution wall at Auschwitz

Timeline of the Holocaust• 1933: The Nazi Party

takes power in Germany. Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor, or prime minister, of Germany.– The Nazis set up the

first concentration camp at Dachau.

– Books contrary to Nazi beliefs are burned in public.

Holocaust Timeline Continued• 1934: Hitler combines

the positions of chancellor and president to become “Fuhrer,” or leader, of Germany.

• 1935: Jews in Germany are deprived of citizenship and other basic rights.

Holocaust Timeline Continued• 1936: The Olympic

Games are held in Germany; signs barring Jews are removed from public places until the event ends.

• 1938: Nazi gangs physically attack Jews throughout Germany and Austria on Kristallnacht (the “Night of Broken Glass”).

• A Jewish synagogue burns during Kristallnacht

Holocaust Timeline Continued• 1938: Germany takes

over Czechoslovakia and invades Poland, and World War II begins.– Hitler orders the

systematic murder of the mentally/physically disabled.

– Polish Jews ordered to relocate.

Holocaust Timeline Continued• 1940: Nazis begin

deporting German Jews to Poland.– German Jews are

forced into ghettos.• 1941: Mobile killing

units begin the systematic slaughter of Jews. 33,771 Jews killed in 2 days.

• 1942: Nazi officials present the “Final Solution” – their plan to kill all European Jews.– Death camps begin

operation– March: 20-25% of

Jews who die in the Holocaust have already perished.

Jewish Ghetto; Warsaw, Poland

Auschwitz II Birkenau created as part of “Final Solution”

Perimeter fence surrounding Birkenau (barracks in background)

Left, live; right, die

Left: Bombed out crematory Right: “ashes could be seen in pond”

The Deaths Continue• 1943: About 80-

85% of Jews who will die have perished.

• 1944: By June the Germans are deporting 12,000 Hungarian Jews a day to Auschwitz.

The End Approaches• 1945: Nazis begin to

evacuate death camps.– About 1/3 of all the

Jews in the world have been murdered and the survivors are homeless.

• 1946: Nazi leaders tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

• Surviving children evacuate Auschwitz upon liberation.

Jewish Cemetery; Warsaw, Poland

Wiesel Timeline• 1928: Born in Sighet,

Romania• 1944: Deported to

Auschwitz• 1945: Father dies in

Buchenwald; Wiesel liberated from concentration camp.

• 1948: Moved to Paris, France to study at the Sorbonne.

• 1948: Work in journalism begins.

• 1954: Decides to write about the Holocaust

• 1958: Night is published.

• The author of 36 works about Judiasm, the Holocaust, and the moral responsibility of all people to fight hatred.

ChildhoodWiesel had a typical Jewish childhood in

Romania; his world revolved around family, religious study, community, and God. All of these things were destroyed

when he was deported in 1944. Since this time, Wiesel has dedicated his life to making sure none of us forget what

happened to the Jews during the Holocaust.

Life During the Holocaust• Separated from his

mother and sister upon deportation.

• His father died in the last months of the war.

• Later learned his mother and sister perished in the gas chambers.

• Wiesel survived Auschwitz and three other concentration camps.

• After the liberation of the camps, Wiesel spent a few years in a French orphanage.

Wiesel the Statesman• Awarded the Nobel

Peace Prize in 1986.• Appointed to chair the

President’s Commission on the Holocaust.

• Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement.

• Responsible for the creation of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

• Elie Wiesel and the Nobel Prize for Peace

Brick from Warsaw Ghetto in U.S. Holocaust Museum

Night Vocabulary• Talmud: the collection

of 1,000 years of Jewish Law and tradition.

• Synagogue: the Jewish house of worship and center of Jewish life.

• Rabbi: means “teacher”and is given to a religious leader

• Yellow Star: After 1935 in Nazi Germany and later in other countries, Jews were required to wear a Star of David in public. The star was black on a yellow background with the word “Jew” in the middle.

Vocabulary Continued

• Ghetto: Beginning in 1939, the Nazis forced Jews into restricted sections of cities surrounded by walls, guards, and barbed wire. In reality, the ghettos were holding stations before deportation.

• SS: a highly trained force who protected the Nazi state.

• Gestapo: a secret police and division of the SS, much feared and in charge of imprisoning all enemies of the Nazi state.

Vocabulary Continued

• Kapos: prisoners who supervised other prisoners.

• Crematory: a furnace for burning dead bodies to ashes.

• Aryan: In Nazi ideology, the pure, superior German race.

Mass grave

“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.” – Wiesel in Night

Memorial at Auschwitz Birkenau

Memorial to resistance fighters;Auschwitz Museum

Memorial to Auschwitz victims

Ghetto Uprising Memorial; Warsaw, Poland