Night –
Elie Wiesel
From Night:
“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.”
Night by Elie Wiesel- Day 1
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Discuss: What do you already know?
Notes on Holocaust
View photos
Read the article
“Understanding the Horror” and
questions
• Movie- Disney Video about Hitler
Building on What You Know…
What do you already know
about
The Holocaust?
Against Whom?
Genocide
Geno-cide
Geno – from the
Greek word genos,
which means birth,
race, of a similar
kind
-Cide – from the
French word cida,
which means to
cut, kill
What is Genocide?
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The Systematic and purposeful destruction of a racial, political, religious, or
cultural group.
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Past and Current Genocides
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The Holocaust
Armenians
Soviet Union
Cambodia
Rwanda
Yugoslavia
Dafur
Pyramid of Hate
• This
pyramid shows how
hate can escalate into
something more than
just discrimination but
into extermination.
Elements Leading to the Holocaust
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Totalitarianism combined with Nationalism
History of Anti-Semitism
Defeat in World War I
Hitler’s belief in the Master Race
Totalitarianism
• Centralized control by
an autocratic authority
and the political
concept that the
citizens should be
totally subjected to an
absolute state
authority
Nationalism
• Loyalty and devotion to a
nation; and a sense of
national consciousness
exalting ones nation above
all others and placing
primary emphasis on
promotion of its culture
and interests as opposed to
those of other nations or
supranational groups.
Anti-Semitism
• Hostility toward or
discrimination
against Jews as a
religious, ethnic, or
racial group.
The Holocaust- key facts
• Germany invaded Poland in 1939, beginning
World War II.
• The Holocaust was the murder of six million
Jews and millions of others by the Nazis
during World War II.
• Prewar European Jewish population: 9.5
million
• Postwar European Jewish Population, 1950:
3.5 million
Chronology of Events
Mass killings began in June 1941 with
the shooting of Jewish civilians during
the German invasion of the Soviet
Union.
At the end of 1941, the Germans began
deporting Jews to killing centers in
occupied Poland.
By May 1945, about two out of every
three Jews in Europe had been
murdered.
Liberation by the Allied troops
occurred on April 11, 1945
What the Nazi’s did:
Made a decree for the protection of the
people and the state, which eliminated a
number of civil rights for those deemed
“unacceptable” to the Nazis
 Made a law against overcrowding of
German Schools, effectively
prohibiting the attendance of no more
than 1.5% “non-Aryans in public
schools and universities.
 Made additional laws against Jews to
protect “racial purity.” Introduced the
Nuremberg Laws in 1935.
What the Nazi’s did:
• Sign used
during the
anti-Jewish
boycott: "Help
liberate
Germany from
Jewish capital.
Don't buy in
Jewish stores."
Germany,
1933.
Nuremberg Laws
 Denied Jews civil rights and
citizenship
 Made intermarriage illegal
 Made intimate liaisons between
Jews and non-Jews a crime
 These laws were also applied to
Gypsies and the handicapped.
Master Race
• Used in Nazism to
designate a supposed
master race of NonJewish Caucasians
usually having
Nordic features.
– Blond hair and Blue eyes
– Known as the Aryan
Race
Chart Showing the Races of Germany
Creating the Aryan Race
Hitler spread his beliefs in racial "purity" and in the
superiority of the "Germanic race" -- what he called
an Aryan "master race.”
He pronounced that his race must remain pure in
order to one day take over the world. When Hitler
and the Nazis came to power, these beliefs became
the government ideology and were spread in
publicly displayed posters, on the radio, in movies,
in classrooms, and in newspapers.
Creating the Aryan Race
• Nazi leaders viewed the Jews not as a
religious group, but as a poisonous
"race," which "lived off" the other races
and weakened them.
• After Hitler took power, Nazi teachers
in school classrooms began to apply the
"principles" of racial science. They
measured skull size and nose length,
and recorded the color of their pupils'
hair and eyes to determine whether
students belonged to the true "Aryan
race."
Purifying the Aryan Race
• Establishing racial
descent by
measuring an ear
at the Kaiser
Wilhelm
Institute for
Anthropology.
Germany, date
uncertain.
Key Events Leading up to Deportation:
• Foreign Jews
expelled
• Anti-Semitic events
occur in Budapest
• German troops
occupy Hungary
(Spring 1944)
• Attacks on Jewish
shops and
synagogues
• Jews no longer
allowed to own
gold, jewels,
objects of value.
• Following Passover,
Jewish leaders are
arrested
Key Events Leading up to
Deportation:
• Jews must wear
the yellow star
• Could not attend
the synagogues
• No longer
allowed to go
into restaurants
or cafés
• Curfew of 6:00 pm
• Could not travel
on the railway
• Moved to the
ghetto
What the Nazi’s did:
• Jews
expelled
from
homes to
the
ghetto
Ghetto
• An area within a city
that all Jews were
forced to live.
• Food rations and living
conditions were very
poor.
• Major Ghettos
– Warsaw
– Lodz
– Kovno
Ghetto Life
• View of the
barbed-wire fence
separating the
Jewish ghetto
from the rest of
the city.
• Altogether, the
Germans created
more than 400
ghettos in
occupied
territories.
Transportation
• Discuss with a partner on how you believe the
transportation of millions of people was actually
able to take place?
What the Nazi’s did:
• Deportation by
train to
Concentration
camps.
– 100+ people in one
car
– Doors were bolted
shut
– No place to sit down
– Often people were
forced to pay for their
transportation
– No food or water
given.
Concentration Camps
• Types of Camps
– Concentration/Labor
– Extermination/Death
• Major Camps
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Dauchau-Buchenwald
Auschwitz
Treblinkia
Bikenau
Evidence of the Genocide
• View of the
electrified
fence and main
entrance to the
Auschwitz I
concentration
camp.
Auschwitz,
Poland, 1945.
Evidence of the Genocide
• One of many
warehouses at
Auschwitz in
which the
Germans
stored
clothing
belonging to
victims of the
camp.
Evidence of the Genocide
• A pile of
victims’
shoes taken
from
prisoners.
Evidence of the Genocide
• Prisoners
stand in
uniform
during a roll
call at the
Buchenwald
concentratio
n camp.
Buchenwald,
Germany,
1938-1940.
The Death Marches
• Prisoners marching to a
new concentration
camp
Gas Chambers
• Many victims did
not know of
their death
– Gas Chambers
were referred to
as Baths/Showers
• Zyklon B – was
used as a poison
• Millions of
people came to
their deaths.
Crematoriums
• Prisoners were forced
to staff the
crematoriums.
• Their job was to
remove all valuables
from the victims.
Survivors of Auschwitz
Unmistakable Inhumanity
Survivors of Auschwitz April 11, 1945
Vocabulary Chapters 1-4
• anecdote- a brief story about something
interesting or funny in a person's life
• billet- to assign lodging to
• convalesce- to regain health and strength
gradually after illness or weakness
• farce- something that is ridiculous
• harangue- a forceful or scolding speech
or writing
Vocabulary Chapters 1-4
Continued…
• pestilence- a contagious or infectious
epidemic disease that spreads quickly and
is often fatal
• queue- a waiting line
• reverie- the condition of being lost in
thought
• revoke- to put an end to (as a law, order,
or privilege) by taking away or canceling
• unremitting- not stopping
Vocabulary Chapters 6-9
• apathy- lack of feeling or of interest
• encumber- to place an excessive burden
on
• indifference- lack of feeling for or
against something
• livid- very angry
• liquidate- to put an end to; to do away
with
Journal Entry #1
How would you feel if you were
told that unless you were a
practicing Catholic with
blonde hair and blue eyes, you
were no longer allowed to
attend school, get a diploma,
or ever get a job that pays
more than $5 per hour?
Explain in at least one full
paragraph.
Journal Entry #2
How strong do you think the
instinct for self-preservation
is? Do you think it could
cause someone to be disloyal
to friends and family?
Explain in at least one full
paragraph.
Journal Entry #6
• The dictionary define genocide as:
GENOCIDE: a systematic killing of, or a
program of action intended to destroy, a
whole national or ethnic group.
Besides the Holocaust, can you think of
another example of genocide in the world?
Explain what you know about your
example. How do you feel about genocide?
5 Themes or Motifs to look
for in the novel
1. Night: Pay attention to what happens at night and what
that might symbolize.
2. Bearing Witness: Pay attention to which characters are
witnesses and to what they bear witness.
3. Voice vs. Silence: Who has a voice and who chooses to
remain silent?
4. Father-son Relationships: Pay attention to how Elie and his
father’s relationship develops; in addition, notice other
father-son relationships in the book.
5. Loss of faith: Notice how Elie’s faith in God changes as the
book progresses.
Terms to know:
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Holocaust
Genocide
Ghetto
Prejudice
Discrimination
Kapo
Gestapo
Zionism
Boches
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Race
Ethnicity
Anti-Semitism
Euphemism
Fascism
Death/Concentration
camp
• Cabbala
• Talmud
Night by Elie Wiesel- Day 2
• Brainstorm key words
• Read the article “Scapegoats”
• Small groups or individually
answer the related questions
What do these Words mean to you?
Prejudice
Stereotyping
Scapegoating
Night by Elie Wiesel- Day 3
• Independently read “How to Detect and
Analyze Propaganda”
• Answer questions
• Begin reading Chapter 1 of Night
• Homework- finish reading chapter 1
Do Now
• List ways in which authors bring their
characters to life.
• What is the difference between static
and dynamic characters?
Word Splash - use words in a summary
Madame Schachter
Auschwitz
18/40
humanity
Kaddish
work
furnace
faith
A-1773
Buna
Share Your Group Responses
Physical
Elie
Wiesel
Moshe the
Beadle
Mr. Wiesel
Social
Psychological
Bio-Poem Directions
1. Write a bio-poem for one of the
characters from your chart
2. Rewrite your poem neatly on white
computer paper
3. Glue your poem to construction paper
4. Decorate or cut
5. Present
6. Hang on bulletin board
Questions ch 1 & 2
1.
What steps did the Germans take to limit the Jews’
freedoms and deport them to the camps?
2.
Why did the people refuse to believe Moshe’s story?
3.
What do you think Mrs. Schachter’s young son feels
and thinks about his mother’s outbursts and her
beatings by the other people?
4.
Do you think the other prisoners were wrong in how
they reacted to her outbursts? Why?
5.
How do you think you would react after being in
such a small space?
Quotes on Motif
• Select one quote for each motif found in the
novel
• Write your quote down including speaker and
page number
• Explain why you picked it and why it is
important
1. Night
2.Bearing Witness
3.Voice vs. Silence
4.Father-Son Relationships
5.Loss of Faith
Questions ch 5 & 6
1. Why does Elie regard the weak, starving prisoner as
stronger than God?
2. How does Elie show his rebellion against God? Do you
find this rebellion ironic?
3. What advice is given to the prisoners before a selection?
Why is this advice given?
4. Why does Akiba Drumer lose the will to live?
5. What keeps Elie from allowing himself to die during
the forward march?
6. Why does Juliek play his violin as he lies dying in the
mass of bodies?
Sample Student One Pager
Sample Student One Pager
Review for Unit Test
• Working with a partner list five characters
(not Elie or his father) from the novel and
explain how they are important or what
function they served in the novel. Try relating
their “story” to one of the motifs we
discussed.
• With your partner create a list of 20 plot
events
• Independently create 3 test questions and
provide the correct answer.
• Challenge your partner with each other’s
questions.