1. Introduction: Night
By: Elie Wiesel

2. 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 He was 15.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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