“Night” Discussion Questions
(ACE 1 for every group of questions)
Discussion Questions, Pages 1-20
1. Who was Moshe the Beadle?
2. Why did Eliezer spend a lot of time with Moshe?
3. What happened to Moshe that caused a great change in him?
4. How did the rest of the community react to what Moshe told them?
5. What were the ghettos?
6. At first, how did the Jews of Sighet feel about the ghettos?
7. Who offered Eliezer’s family safe refuge?
8. On what day of the week was Eliezer’s family expelled?
Discussion Questions, Pages 21-43
1. Why did the Hungarian lieutenant move among the prisoners with a basket?
2. Who was Madame Schachter?
3. Who were the SS men?
4. What was Eliezer’s last view of his mother and sister?
5. Why did Eliezer and his father lie to Dr. Mengele?
6. Why did his father wish Eliezer had gone with his mother?
7. What was actually happening to the women?
8. What is the Kaddish?
9. According to the SS officer, what was the only way to avoid the furnaces?
10. Why did the gypsy strike Eliezer’s father?
11. To what new camp were the prisoners marched?
Discussion Questions, Pages 45-62
1. Why was Eliezer sent to the dentist?
2. Who beat Eliezer in front of the French girl?
3. Why did Eliezer give his father "marching lessons"?
Discussion Questions, Pages 63-80
1. What is Rosh Hashanah?
2. What was Dr. Mengele’s attitude during the "selection"?
3. What sorts of "presents" did Eliezer’s father give him?
4. How did Eliezer end up in the hospital?
5. Why was the camp being evacuated?
Discussion Questions, Pages 81-92
1. What happened to Zalman?
2. How did Eliezer and his father help each other stay alive?
3. How did Eliezer avoid suffocation?
4. How did Eliezer’s father avoid being "selected" at Gleiwitz?
Discussion Questions, Pages 93-108
1. Why did the two men try to throw Elie’s father from the carriage?
2. Why did the living "rejoice" when the order came to throw out the corpses?
3. How did the prisoners in the wagon act like animals?
4. How did Meir Katz save Eliezer’s life?
5. Why did Eliezer decide to be an "invalid"?
6. Why didn’t he see his father die?
7. Explain the line at the end of the book that reads, "A corpse gazed back at me."