Night reading guide, p. 1 (pp. 1 – 11)
NAME________________________________________
1928 – Eliazar Wiesel is born in Sighet, Transylvania, Hungary
July 1, 1941 – Hungary enters WWII on Germany’s side.
July/August 1941 – 16,000 non-Hungarian Jews living in Hungary are deported and killed.
Early 1943 – Hungary negotiates a surrender to the Allies
March 19, 1944 – Germany invades and occupies Hungary
April 1944 – Hungarian Jews forces into ghettos.
April 1944 – deportation of the Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz begins. Twelve thousand a day
are deported with the total reaching 437,402 by July 8. Ninety percent are killed
upon arrival in Auschwitz.
April 11, 1945 – American troops liberate Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
May 7, 1945 – Germany surrenders ending WWII in Europe.
Kabbalah – a small sect of Judaism involved in mysticism and interpretation of scripture through
encoded messages and hidden meanings.
1. How old is Elie at the beginning of his memoir? ____________
2. List Elie’s family members.
3. Briefly recount what happens to Moishe the Beadle.
4. List two reasons given on pp. 8 – 9 to disbelieve the threat or to not leave.
a.
b.
Where in our reading have we previously encountered reasons like this?
5. Why do you think the Germans were so nice when they first invaded?
7. After Passover Wiesel says, “the curtain finally rose. (10)” What does he mean by this figurative
statement?
Night reading guide p. 2 (pp. 11 – 22)
NAME________________________________________
1. Their first oppressors are the Hungarian police. They are described as their “first faces of hell
and death” (19). Why do you think their fellow Hungarians treat them this way? Note that this
type of behavior was not uncommon in countries that the Nazis invaded.
2. Page 12 states the “ghetto was ruled by delusion (false belief).” What does that mean?
Give two examples.
a.
b.
3. Why do the Jews comply and allow things to go smoothly (22)?
4. While the Wiesels are in the ghetto, their former maid offers to hide them. State a reason why
you think the family does not take advantage of her offer.
5. State a question(s) you have or a topic you would like to discuss.
Night reading guide p. 3 (pp. 23 - 46)
NAME_______________________________________
1. To what camp are the Wiesels transported? ______________________________
2. What do Mrs. Schacter’s visions on the train seem to be prophesying?
3. What time of day do they arrive at the camp? ____________________________
4. What happens as the Jews march by Dr. Mengele?
5. One way an author may emphasize a point is through selective repetition of a word or phrase.
What phrase does Wiesel repeat to emphasize the horror of his first night in the camp?
6. Why do the Elie and his father lie to Stein about his family?
Do you agree with their doing this? Explain.
7. Why was the prisoner in charge of the block replaced? (44)
8. State a question(s) you have or a topic you would like to discuss.
Night reading guide p. 4 (pp. 47 – 65) NAME_________________________________________
1. To what labor camp are Elie and his father transferred? _____________________________
2. After several days Elie and his father are assigned to a work detail. What do they do?
3. What soon becomes all that matters to Elie? (52)__________________________________
4. How does the foreman get revenge on Elie for refusing to give up his gold crown?
5. All of the kapos were prisoners and most were Jewish. Are you surprised at how cruel and
greedy they were? Explain.
6. What is ironic about the prisoners’ attitude toward the air raid?
7. State a question(s) you have or a topic you would like to discuss.
Night reading guide p. 5 (pp. 66 – 84)
NAME________________________________________
1. What issue did the prisoners debate during Yom Kippur?
a. What does Elie decide to do?
b. After acting upon his decision, he says, “Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening” (69).
What does he mean by this statement?
2. Shortly after the start of the new year there is a selection. What does the head of the block tell
the prisoners after the selection is over?
a. Why does he lie to them?
b. Several days later, though, some of the prisoners are told that they are not to report to work but
instead stay in camp. What is to become of these men?
3. Akiba Drumer (77) is selected. He asks the other men including Elie to say Kaddish (a prayer for the
dead) for him three days after his death, something which is normally done in Judaism. Three days pass
and they forget to say Kaddish. What does this tell us is happening to Elie?
4. Two days after Elie’s foot operation, what news do the inmates receive?
a. What does another man in the hospital tell Elie will happen before liberation occurs?
Why would the Nazis do this?
b. What choice do Elie and his father have to make that day?
Do they make the right choice? Explain.
5. State a question(s) you have or a topic you would like to discuss.
Night reading guide p. 6 (pp. 85 – 115) NAME_________________________________________________
1. Wiesel says that after liberation there was no thought of revenge. Why do you think they felt this way?
2. Why do you think Wiesel waited ten years before writing this memoir?
3. If you could ask a Holocaust survivor one question, what would it be?
4. How is studying the Holocaust, which ended over sixty years ago, relevant or important to our world
today?