1. Introduction to Night
English 9B

2. Author: Elie Wiesel Pronounced: “eh-lee vee-ZEL”
Born in 1928 in Sighet, Romania (now Hungary)
Orthodox Jew
At 15, was sent to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland
Father, mother, and little sister died in Holocaust
Survived and moved to France
Oprah Interview

3. Hitler
Came to power in 1933
Blamed the Jews for Germany’s depression after WWI
Embraced the superiority of the Nordic peoples, which he mistakenly called the “Aryan” race
Implemented laws designed to dehumanize German Jews and subject them to violence and prejudice

4. Holocaust Definition: destruction or slaughter on a mass scale
The greatest act of genocide in the world
11million dead; 6 million were Jews (560,000 Hungarian Jews – like Elie)

5. Night by Elie Wiesel Narrated by a boy named Eliezer
Tells a story of a boy who survives the concentration camps, but it also traces Eliezer’s emotions concerning religion
Is neither a record of facts nor an impartial document; instead, it is an attempt to re-create the thoughts and experiences that Wiesel had as a teenage concentration camp prisoner
Considered more of a memoir than a novel (focused on a personal experience)