1. By Elie Wiesel “The Holocaust is a central event in many people’s lives, but it has also become a metaphor for our century. There cannot be an end to speaking and writing about it.” -Aharon Appelfeld

2. I cannot teach this book. Instead, I drop copies on their desks, like bombs on sleeping towns, and let them read. So do I, again. The stench rises from the page and chokes my throat. The ghosts of burning babies haunt my eyes. And that bouncing baton, that pointer of Death, stabs me in the heart as it sends his mother to the blackening sky. Nothing is destroyed the laws of science say, only changed. The millions transformed into precious smoke rode the wind to fill our lungs and hearts with their cries. No, I cannot teach this book. I simply want the words to burn their comfortable souls and leave them scarred for life. "On Wiesel's Night“ by: Thomas E. Thorton

3. Genocide Geno – from the Greek word genos, which means birth, race, of a similar kind Geno-cide -Cide – from the French word cida, which means to cut, kill

4. Essential questions… How should we remember past genocides or crimes against humanity? Why should we? How does human conflict at all levels impact society and the people in it? What social responsibility do we have to prevent future crimes against humanity? How does Elie Wiesel convey the inhumanity and humanity associated with the Holocaust in the novel Night?

5. The novel begins in Sighet, Transylvania. During the early years of World War II, Sighet remained relatively unaffected by the war. The Jews in Sighet believed that they would be safe from the persecution that Jews in Germany and Poland suffered. Elie Wiesel’s Night…

7. In 1944, however, Elie and all the other Jews in town were rounded up in cattle cars and deported to concentration camps in Poland. He was 15. Night continued…

8. They were sent to Auschwitz and another concentration camp. Night continued… Roll call in Buchenwald, February 1941

9. Former prisoners of the “little camp” in Buchenwald stare out from the wooden bunks in which they slept three to a “bed.” Elie Wiesel is pictured in the second row of bunks, seventh from the left, next to the vertical beam. Did you know …

10. After surviving the Nazi concentration camps, Wiesel vowed never to write about his horrific experiences. He eventually changed his mind and wrote Night in 1955; however, it was f irst written as an 852 page work called And the World Kept Silent. Wiesel won the Nobel Prize in 1986. Night continued…

11. Elie Wiesel- He tells his heart wrenching story of his imprisonment in Nazi Germany. He overcame the odds with his strength and will to live. Elie's Father- He gave Elie the strength to go on without him and to save himself. He died in the 40 mile march between concentration camps in the dead of winter. Night Major “Characters”

12. Night – What happens at night and what that might symbolize. Bearing Witness – Pay attention to which “characters” are witnesses and to what they bear witness. Father-son Relationships – Pay attention to how Elie and his father’s relationship develop; in addition, notice other father-son relationships w/in the memoir Night Major Motifs

13. Loss of faith – Notice how Elie’s faith in God changes as the memoir progresses. Voice vs. Silence – Who has a voice and who chooses to remain silent? Why might Elie Wiesel title his novel what he did originally, and why did he no longer remain silent? Night Major Motifs

14. Night – Symbolizes a world without the presence or existence of God. For the Jews, darkness and/or night is mentioned or discussed when suffering is at its worst. Night Symbols Fire – Symbolizes the Nazis power and destruction. They destroy the Jews through fire within the crema- toriums. This is the opposite of the role of fire within the Bible.

15. God and Religion – Judaism is not simply their religion, but a way of life. Wiesel attempts to strengthen his faith by starting to study Kabbalah. However, his feelings toward religion and God begin to change once he is sent to the death camps. Night Themes Sanity vs. Insanity – This represents the greater insanity of the Holocaust. Madame Schachter symbolizes the fear of being offered as a burnt sacrifice. Death – There is no one to witness their death and no one to mourn over them. The death camps are a mockery of human rights & values.