1. Night
Pages 3-28

2. “The deportees were quickly forgotten” (Wiesel 6).
Night Journal 2
Write candidly for 5 minutes regarding the following prompt(s). Be honest with your thoughts. What does it mean? How do the words affect you?
“The deportees were quickly forgotten” (Wiesel 6).
“People not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen” (7).

3. Wiesel’s Faith
“By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple…‘I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions’” (3, 5).
It is vital to understand the importance of Wiesel’s faith to him in his youth. This will be a recurring topic throughout the entirety of the book.
How would you describe Wiesel’s faith at this point?

4. Yellow Stars
“Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star” (11).
What affect do you think this would have had on the community?
Can you relate this to anything you have seen or heard of in the modern world?

5. Ghetto What thoughts and images does this word bring to your mind?
Why do you think this word is used in modern America?
“The barbed wire that encircled us like a wall did not fill us with real fear” (11).

6. The Ghetto of Sighet
“The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion” (12).
What type of mindset did the Jews in the ghettos have?
How did they feel about their situation?
Why?

7. They were Home
Jews had lived in Germany for centuries and were well assimilated into German culture.
Prior to WWII, German Jews were in most cases patriotic citizens
Over 10,000 died fighting for Germany in World War I
Countless others were wounded and received medals for their valor and service
What is involved in leaving one’s homeland?
Why might this make things difficult?

8. Why didn’t they all leave?
The oppressive measures targeting Jews in the pre-war period were passed and enforced gradually
These types of pre-war measures and laws had been experienced throughout the history of the Jewish people in earlier periods and in other countries as well
No one at the time could have predicted killing squads and killing centers
What event or action (without the '20-20 hindsight' that we have) should have convinced the Jews to flee?
Another problem, who would/could have taken them?

9. The Cattle Cars
“The doors clanked shut. We had fallen into the trap…The doors were nailed…The world had become a hermetically sealed cattle car” (24).
people were packed into each cattle car
Average size of the freight cars
27 feet long x 7 feet wide (189 square feet)

10. The Words vs. the Fire
They were told that it “was a labor camp…The conditions were good. Families would not be separated,” and they would work depending on abilities (27).
Mrs. Schachter screamed of fire and terror long before the cattle cars arrived. “In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh” (28).
At this point, do you think they understand or believe what is happening? Are they still hopeful?

11. Homework Read pages 29-65 Night Vocabulary 1 due next class
Be sure to use the effective reading strategies that we have worked on from the beginning of the year
Night Vocabulary 1 due next class