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.
Night
Elie Wiesel
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
-Born 1928
-Sighet,
Transylvania,
Hungary
-Holocaust
survivor
-Writer, activist
Background & Setting
• Europe (Sighet & Romania, Poland, Germany)
• World War 2 (1941 – 1945)
• Nazi party regime (National Socialist German
Workers Party) & Gestapo
• Chancellor Adolf Hitler
• Jews (and others) blamed for Germany’s defeat
in WW 1
• Auschwitz and Buna (Poland)
• Buchenwald (Germany)
Wiesel’s Family
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•
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•
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Mother: Sarah Feig
Father: Chlomo Wiesel
Older Sisters: Hilda, Bea
Younger Sister: Tzipora
Narrator: Eliezer
Theme: universal idea
• Inhumanity
• Struggle to maintain faith
Symbols
• Night/darkness
• Fire
Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Abstraction (noun)  adjective?
Annihilate (verb)  noun?
Apathy (noun)  adjective?
Appease (verb)  adjective?
Barometer (noun)  adjective?
Bestial (adjective)
Compulsory (adjective)  noun?
Derision (noun)  adjective?
Edict (noun)
Implore (verb)
Incite (verb)  noun?
Inert (adjective)
Lucid (adjective)  noun?
Pillage (verb)  noun?
Vigilant (adjective)  noun?
Holocaust Connection: Anne Frank
• What is the setting of Anne’s diary?
• What kind of personality does Anne have?
• What other adjectives would you use to describe
Anne?
• Describe the “Secret Annexe” and how does Anne
view the move into hiding?
Night Lab Questions
1. When the prisoners first arrived at Birkenau, why did
they not throw themselves on the guards and revolt?
2. Who were the first ones to beat Eliezer and his father?
3. What was tattooed on each prisoner’s left arm? Why is
this significant?
4. What motto was inscribed on the plaque at Auschwitz
and what did it mean?
5. Why do you think Eliezer lies to his cousin about his
family still being alive?
6. In this section we see Eliezer begin to lose his humanity
because of the way he and the other prisoners are
treated. We also see his struggle with faith in God. Write
a paragraph about these changes in Eliezer.
Section 1 Discussion Questions
1. When the prisoners first arrived at Birkenau, why
did they not throw themselves on the guards and
revolt?
2. Who were the first ones to beat Eliezer and his
father?
3. What was tattooed on each prisoner’s left arm? Why
is this significant?
4. What motto was inscribed on the plaque at
Auschwitz and what did it mean?
5. How did the French girl comfort Eliezer, and where
did they meet again years later?
Chapter 4 Questions
• How many times was Eliezer lashed? Who was he
thinking of afterwards?
• What metaphor does Eliezer use to compare
himself and the other inmates’ longing for the
abandoned cauldrons of soup?
• Why do you think Eliezer and the other inmates
are happy for the bombings?
• Why do you think the boy that was hanged “upset
me [Eliezer] deeply”?
• What question does the man standing behind
Eliezer repeatedly ask during the hanging of the
pipel? What is Eliezer’s response?
Night & Anne Frank discussion
• How did the French girl comfort Eliezer, and where
did they meet again years later?
• How were the two cauldrons of soup like “two
lambs with a hundred wolves lying in wait for
them”?
• What is the “selection”?
• In Night, Eliezer says that his wish is to live in a
world without bells. In The Diary of Anne Frank,
Anne shares each person’s first wish once outside of
their hiding place – what are some of the things
they wish for?
Holocaust Connection: Anne Frank
• In Night, Eliezer says that his wish is to live in a world without
bells. In The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne shares each person’s
first wish once outside of their hiding place. Margot and Mr.
Van Daan want to have a hot bath for half an hour; Mrs. Van
Daan wants cream cakes; Dussel longs to see his wife, Lotje;
Mrs. Frank wants a cup of coffee; Mr. Frank wants to visit Mr.
Vossen; Peter wants to go to town and the movies; Anne simply
wishes to be back in a home of their own and to get back to
school.
If you were suddenly required to be cut off from life as you know
it for an extended period of time, what would be the first thing
you wish for when you were able to re-enter society?
Section 2 Discussion Questions
1. How were the two cauldrons of soup like “two lambs
with a hundred wolves lying in wait for them”?
2. What is the “selection”?
3. What made the move to Gleiwitz so hard?
4. What happened to the prisoners who stopped
running?
5. What did Eliezer tell Rabbi Eliahu? Why does he tell
him this? Connect this to something else Eliezer tells
his cousin earlier in the book.
Section 3 Discussion Questions
1. What did Juliek do before he died?
2. How did Eliezer save his father even after his father
had been sent “to the left”?
3. Years later, how was the Parisienne’s treatment of
the “natives” like the Germans’ treatment of the
starving Jews?
4. How did Meir Katz save Eliezer?
5. Why did Eliezer feel ashamed of himself while he
searched for his father?
6. Why did Eliezer hate the doctors?
7. How did the other patients treat Eliezer’s father?
8. How did Eliezer’s father die?
Night concentration camps
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4.
Birkenau and Auschwitz (Poland)
Buna (sub-camp of Auschwitz)
Gleiwitz (80 miles from Buna)
Buchenwald (Germany)
Maps
Auschwitz Animated Map
Sighet, Transylvania (pre-WW2)
Sighet Jews Bound for Deportation
Deserted ghetto in Sighet
Bunks at Buchenwald, 1945
Oprah and Elie Visit Auschwitz
Anne Frank, 11 years old
Secret Annex
Residents:
Otto Frank
Edith Frank
Margot Frank
Mr. Van Daan
Mrs. Van Daan
Peter Van Daan
Albert Dussel
Annex pets:
Moortje
Mouschi
Boche
Dutch Protectors:
Mr. Koophuis
Mr. Kraler
Miep Van Santen
Henk Van Santen
Elli Vossen
Anne’s Friends:
Lies Goosen
Sanne Houtman
Jopie de Waal
Miep de Jong
Peter Wessel
Harry Goldberg
Holocaust Literature Review
• What is a central conflict in both Night and The
Diary of a Young Girl? Give an example from both
works.
• Compare and contrast the father-son relationship
in Night with the father-daughter relationship in
The Diary of a Young Girl. Use specific references
from both works.
• Both Eliezer and Anne go through monstrous
changes throughout the course of their ordeals.
What are their outlooks and ideals before their
captivity (Eliezer) or hiding (Anne) and what are
they by the end? For Anne, focus especially on her
opinions changing of others in the Annex.
Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Prize Speech
• He says, “A young Jewish boy discovered the
Kingdom of Night…I remember he asked his father,
‘Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not
the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to
be committed? How could the world remain
silent?’”
▫ How does referring to himself in the third person go
along with the narrator in Night?
▫ What is the difference between the twentieth century
and the Middle Ages? Why is it so horrific that such
crimes be committed in the twentieth century?
▫ How does Elie’s reference to silence connect with his
fight against indifference?
Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Prize Speech
• He says, “…if we forget, we are guilty, we are
accomplices.”
▫ What is an accomplice? What does Elie mean?
• He says, “Wherever men and women are being
persecuted because of their race, religion, or
political views, that place must – at that moment –
become the center of the universe.”
▫ What does Elie mean?
Group Work:
• Find at least two instances of foreshadowing in
Night and one instance in The Diary of a Young
Girl.
• What are some of the inhumanities inflicted upon
Eliezer and the prisoners? What are some examples
of Eliezer losing his humanity? Come up with at
least 5 specific examples.
• Night/darkness, fire, and silence are important
symbols and motifs in Night. Describe what each
symbol represents and find at least one specific
reference for each.
• What is Eliezer’s most pressing internal conflict?
Anne’s? How do they overcome them?