1. Night
"In every area of human creativity indifference is the enemy; indifference of evil is worse than evil, because it is also sterile." Elie Wiesel

2. Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel appears as the fourth child in the left column in this photo of child survivors of Buchenwald, a concentration camp.

3. Timeline of Elie Wiesel
1928--born in Sighet,
Romania 1944—deported to Auschwitz
Jan father dies in Buchenwald
Apr liberated from concentration camp
1948--moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne work in journalism begins
1954--decides to write about the Holocaust
1956--hit by a car in New York
1958--Night is published
1963--receives U.S. citizenship
1964--returned to Sighet
1965--first trip to Russia
1966--publishes Jews of Silence married Marion Rose
1972--son is born
1978--appointed chair of Presidential Commission on the Holocaust
1980--Commission renamed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
1985--awarded Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement
1986--awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1995--publishes memoirs

4. Elie Wiesel--Biography
A holocaust survivor!
He was born in the town of Sighet, Romania in 1928.
In 1944 the German Nazi’s deported Wiesel and his entire family to Auschwitz, a concentration camp.
Wiesel survived Auschwitz, Buna, Buchenwald and Gleiwitz, all Nazi commanded concentration camps.
At 15 yrs old

5. Elie Wiesel--Biography
In 1963 he became a citizen of the United States.
He was appointed a professor of humanities at Boston University in
From 1980 to 1986, Wiesel served as chairman of the U.S. President's Commission on the Holocaust.

6. Elie Wiesel-Biography
He received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1985.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in
Wiesel has written and lectured widely about the Jewish tradition and other Jewish issues, as well as about human rights in general.

7. Famous Passage from Night
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 (Elie-Wiesel)

8. Elie Wiesel with Yitzhak Rabin
Let us remember, let us remember the heroes of Warsaw, the martyrs of Treblinka, the children of Auschwitz. They fought alone, they suffered alone, they lived alone, but they did not die alone, for something in all of us died with them.
Elie Wiesel
I spent most of my time talking to God more than to people Elie Wiesel

9. Themes of the Novel Genocide
Apathy can be more detrimental to society than pure hatred.
One’s spirit drives the soul to survive.
The light of faith in humanity can overcome the darkness of hate.
Even in despair, man searches for meaning.

10. Main Characters
Eliezer Wiesel (identification number A-7713) *The narrator of the book, Elie is taken to concentration camps in Czechoslovakia and Germany at the age of fourteen.
Eliezer's father (Chlomo Wiesel) *Eliezer's father is very respected within the Jewish community of his hometown, and he spends most of his time occupying himself with community affairs

11. Minor Characters
Moché the Beadle: A poor, humble man who works at the Hasidic synagogue in Sighet
Tzipora: Eliezer's seven-year-old sister
Eliezer's mother: Eliezer is separated from his mother upon arriving at Birkenau.

12. Night Study Guide Notes
The original title Elie Wiesel gave the novel was And the World Has Remained Silent.
He wrote this book after 10 years of silence.
By the end of the Holocaust, over 6 million Jews had been killed.

13. Night Study Guide Notes
There are five motifs to look for while reading Night:
Night – pay attention to what happens at night and what that might symbolize. Remember what we learned when we talked about archetypes and what night might symbolize.
Bearing Witness – Pay attention to which characters are witnesses and to what they bear witness.

14. Night Study Guide Notes
Motifs (continued):
Father-son Relationships – Pay attention to how Elie and his father’s relationship develops; in addition, notice other father-son relationships in the book.
Loss of faith – Notice how Elie’s faith in God changes as the book progresses. Write on your study guides where these changes occur.

15. Night Study Guide Notes
Motifs (continued):
Voice vs. Silence – Who has a voice and who chooses to remain silent? Why might Elie Wiesel title his novel what he did originally, and why did he no longer remain silent?
From the 10 Core Concept notes, we will learn that Poland had the largest population of Jews in Europe.

16. Night Study Guide Notes
In Poland, 90% of the approximately 3,000,000 Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
As you read, look for times that Wiesel mentions the people in surrounding towns.
There are several groups who contributed to the Holocaust, persecutors and by-standers included.
Why are by-standers just as important as the persecutors?

17. Images

18. Photographs

20. Words to Think About
“The Holocaust is a central event in many peoples lives, but it also has become a metaphor for our century. There cannot be an end to speaking and writing about it.”
Aharon Appelfeld

21. “If by some miracle, I survive, I will devote my life to testifying on behalf of all those whose shadows will be bound to mine forever”.
Elie Wiesel

22. I cannot teach this book
I cannot teach this book. Instead, I drop copies on their desks, like bombs on sleeping towns, and let them read. So do I, again. The stench rises from the page and chokes my throat. The ghosts of burning babies haunt my eyes. And that bouncing baton, that pointer of Death, stabs me in the heart as it sends his mother to the blackening sky. Nothing is destroyed the laws of science say, only changed. The millions transformed into precious smoke rode the wind to fill our lungs and hearts with their cries. No, I cannot teach this book. I simply want the words to burn their comfortable souls and leave them scarred for life.
"On Wiesel's Night“
by:
Thomas E. Thorton