By Elie Wiesel

Night

A non-fiction journey through evil and horror

Categorized as a memoir: focuses on one aspect of the writer’s life. Memoirs usually cover a relatively short span of time, and their main purpose is to draw the reader’s attention to a specific theme or circumstance.

Also sometimes categorized as an autobiography: a sketch of the author’s entire life, often from birth up until the time of the writing.

Night

NightElie Wiesel tells his story of his childhood in Transylvania before the Nazis invaded his hometown and deported most of the community to Nazi labor camps and death camps.

Night• Elie was born in September of 1928

and was 15 years old when he was deported.

• After the war, he spent time in a French orphanage.

• Later in life, he worked as a journalist, became an author, and was/is an activist who speaks of the atrocities of the Holocaust so people will never forget. He also continues to work against discrimination , hatred, bigotry, and genocide.

• He wrote Night in 1955. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Genocide: The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

Pre-war Jewish population in Europe: 9.5 million

By the end of the war, 2 of every 3 had been killed

Anti-Semitism: Hostility toward or discrimination against Jewish people.

Things to Know

Sighet, Transylvania (now Romania)

Auschwitz, Poland

Buchenwald, Germany

How should we remember past genocides or crimes against humanity? Why should we?

How does human conflict at all levels impact society and the people in it?

What social responsibility do we have to prevent future crimes against humanity?

How does Elie Wiesel convey the inhumanity and humanity associated with the Holocaust in the novel Night?

How was Elie Wiesel’s faith impacted by what happened to him?

Questions to Think About

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it.” -George Santayana, Spanish philosopher

OTHER INFO

Dr. Mengele“The Angel of Death,” a doctor who

performed brutal, unnecessary experiments and operations upon prisoners.

Aryan RaceThe “pure Germanic race,” used by the Nazis to suggest a superior, non-Jewish Caucasian

typified by height, blonde hair, blue eyes.

SS“Schutz-Staffel” (literally defense echelon), established in 1929 as Hitler’s black-shirted

bodyguards. They became the elite guards of the Nazis trained in brutality and put in charge

of concentration camps.

PalestineThis was the name of modern-day Israel until about

1947/1948. The name changed due to several political reasons, including the expiration of some land agreements,

implementation of new mandates, a civil war, and other complex reasons. The name now refers to the territory

within Israel that is an Arab state.