Introduction: Night By: Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel Born in Sighnet, Romania in 1928, he was the third of four children. Raised in a small community where his world revolved around family, religious study (Judaism), and the community. Both of his parents had encouraged him to study modern Hebrew literature and Jewish texts. He was deported, with the rest of his community, to Auschwitz in 1944. He was 15.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. 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.

After Liberation After being liberated from the internment camps in April 1945, Elie was placed in a French orphanage. In 1948, he began to study in Paris at Sorbonne University, and began to work for the Israeli newspaper as a journalist. When he was given the opportunity to cover the U.N., he moved to the U.S. and became a citizen in 1963.

Elie’s Achievements Night is the second published text of Elie’s, but he has also written 36 different works. He is most widely known as a Holocaust writer as his works either directly or indirectly reflect his experience during the Holocaust. He has been honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, the Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Award, and the International League for Human Rights humanitarian award.

About the Book Elie Wiesel was encouraged to write Night by Francois Mauriac who was a Nobel prize winning French novelist in 1955. Originally the text was 800 pages in length, but Elie and his publisher worked to pare it down to an eighth of that length. Night is a recreation of events that Elie lived through during the Holocaust.

Characters/Individuals within the Text Eliezer (Elie) Wiesel Chlomo Wiesel Mrs. Wiesel Hilda Wiesel Beatrice “Bea” Wiesel Tzipora Wiesel Batya Reich Stein of Antwerp Moshe the Beadle Berkovitz Madame Kahn Stern Dr. Josef Mengele The Hungarian Police Inspector Maria Madame Schachter Bela Katz Yechiel Akiba Drumer Juliek Louis Hans Franek Yossi and Tibi Alphonse The Dentist from Czeh. The French Jewess The Young Thief Dutch Oberkapo The Pipel Elie’s Blockaelteste The Rabbi The Jewish Doctor Zalman Rabbi Eliahou Eliahou’s Son Meir Meir Katz Idek