1. The Holocaust and Elie Wiesel
An introduction to a unit on Night
By Jane Rieder
This presentation is intended for my 10th-grade world literature students. They are a regular-ability class, but include some students with special needs or who are English language learners. This semester we will read Night and learn how to write articles or reports about the author and the historical events. (They are concurrently enrolled in a world history class and will be covering World War II around the time we do our unit).
Instructional objectives: to capture students’ interest by briefly presenting an introduction to the Holocaust. To provide a framework for further learning about this historical period and the author’s memories.
By the end of this unit, students should be able to: demonstrate understanding of the works we read, know how to write a factual report or article, discuss the themes of Wiesel’s work.

2. What do you know? Think a minute. Turn to your partner.
Get ready to discuss what you already know about the Holocaust.
What questions do you have?
This strategy is a think-pair-share used to “activate students’ prior knowledge” of a topic. Through this activity, I will be able to do several important things. First of all, I can assess what they already know when they begin the unit, and possibly correct any misconceptions. Secondly, I can capture their interest more effectively by asking them to recall what they have already heard or learned. Finally, I will be able to address my future lessons to answer their questions and satisfy their curiosity.
Entrance to Auschwitz

3. What happened?
During the Holocaust, 11 million people died in concentration camps in Germany and Poland.
Hitler’s ideology called for the imprisonment of Jews, gypsies, political dissenters, the mentally ill, and homosexuals.
Holocaust Encyclopedia

4. Why did this happen?
After the First World War, Germany was in chaos, and Hitler was a strong leader who promised a better life for Germany.
European fascism merged with anti- semitism.
The western world was unaware of the true extent of Germany’s persecution of Jews and others.

5. Holocaust Memoirs
Some victims of concentration camps survived to publish their memoirs.
Elie Wiesel
addresses the U.S. Congress.
Famous authors who wrote about their experiences include Primo Levi, Anne Frank, Simon Wiesenthal and Elie Wiesel.

6. Elie Wiesel and the holocaust
Taken from his hometown with his family in spring 1944, when he was a teenager.
Transported to Auschwitz, Poland with his family.
He never saw his mother or younger sister again.
His father died after a forced march to buchenwald.

7. A photo of prisoners arriving at Auschwitz, May 1944
This took
place
around
the time
when Elie
Wiesel
arrived at
Auschwitz.

8. Liberation of Buchenwald
Wiesel is the seventh man from the left on the second row.
April 16,
1945

9. Elie Wiesel after the Holocaust
Became a U.S. Citizen in 1955
Published his memoir of Auschwitz
Teaches humanities at various universities
Won the Nobel Peace Prize in for speaking out against racism and intolerance around the world.

10. “An Evening With Elie Wiesel”
Let's watch part of this video...
Wiesel begins speaking around 11:00 of the 89:00 video.
13:28 - “If anyone had told me in my childhood that I would either see the coming of the Messiah, or receive the Noble Prize, what do you think I would have said?”
Begin there with students -
16:00 long pause, then he begins talking about Chasidism. Probably skip from there, since the next 3 or 4 minutes are quite discursive.
17:56 “Nonsense is nonsense, but the history of nonsense is scholarship.”
“I remain, by the way, a Chasid to this day. Of course, I don't look it.”
22:14 – begins to talk about Passover 1944, when his town was invaded by the Germans.
“I still want to tremble before I use the word Auschwitz.”
and end around 24:00.
32:00 begins talking about Auschwitz. “We didn't know what it meant.”
45:45 The writing of Night – waiting ten years before beginning the book.
(These are some excerpts I would particularly want to share with students.)‏

11. From his Nobel Lecture:
“For me, hope without memory is like memory without hope. Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future.” - December 11, 1986
Acceptance Speech

12. What are your reactions?
Think for a minute about your reaction to these historical events.
Then write a dialectical response in your journal – please include questions, thoughts and emotions.
This activity is for students to reflect on the material they have just learned, and write a response to this information. I believe this is important because the Holocaust is a historical period that brings up lots of questions and emotions for many people, and my students will probably be moved to reflect on many different questions. Also, since this is an English class, it is important for them to exercise their fluency in writing.

13. The Holocaust and Elie Wiesel
An introduction to a unit on Night
By Jane Rieder
Duplicate slide to finish presentation.