Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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Chapter 1:
1. When and where did Elie Wiesel grow-up?
1928-1943; Sighet, Transylvania
2. Who was Moshe the Beadle?
Poor man who lived in the synagogue
What did the other people in the community think of him?
He was well-liked
Why did Elie spend a lot of time with him?
He was willing to teach Elie the mysticism of
Judaism.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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3. What was Elie’s father like?
“…Cultured, but rather unsentimental man” (1).
What was his position within the Jewish community?
“Held in great esteem” (1); people went to him for advice.
4. What happened to Moshe that caused great change in him?
Deported and witnessed a great slaughter in the forest
How did he change?
No longer happy; wants to tell his story
How did the rest of the community react when he told them what
he experienced?
They thought he had gone crazy!
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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5. Why were the Jews of Sighet heartened by the news on the
radio in 1942-1943?
The allies were winning even as Germany invaded
Hungary.
6. Why did the Jews of Sighet think they were being
deported?
The front was moving closer; moved for their own
safety.
Why do you suppose their destination was kept secret from
them?
Prevent rebellion; keep them calm.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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7. Could the Jews of Sighet have escaped the Germans?
Perhaps some could have; remember the knocking?
How did they prepare for deportation?
Baked, packed, buried valuables
8. Who offered Elie’s family safe refuge?
Martha
9. On what day of the week was Elie’s family expelled?
Saturday
What was ironic about that day?
Jewish Sabbath—day of rest
What were the 24 hours in the synagogue like?
Horrible, unsanitary, packed
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
Chapter 2:
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1. Who was Madame Schachter?
Woman on the train who kept yelling, “Fire!”
Why was she so upset?
She had been separated from her family.
How did the others treat her?
Bound, gagged, kicked her
What was the first thing the prisoners saw upon arriving at
Birkenau?
The fires of the crematories
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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Chapter 3:
1. Who were the SS men?
Hitler’s private army
How did Elie and his father get separated from Mother and
Tzipora?
Dr. Mengele’s selection
What was Elie’s last view of them?
His mother patting Tzporia’s fair hair
2. Why did some of the younger men want to escape?
The prisoners told them of the crematories
Why didn’t they go ahead?
The older men told them to refer to their religious
teachings—to stay calm
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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3. Why did Elie and his father lie to Dr. Mengele?
He gave an older age to avoid the furnace.
Why did his father wish Elie has gone with his mother? Why
is this ironic?
So he would not be burned alive. Ironic because his
mother and Tziporia went to the crematories.
4. What is the Kaddish?
Jewish prayer for the dead
Why didn’t Elie join his father in reciting this?
He rebelled against a god that would allow babies to
be murdered before his eyes.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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5. Why did the gypsy strike Elie’s father?
His father asked to go to the lavatory
How did Elie react?
He stayed silent
6. To what new camp were the prisoners marched?
Buna—the work camp in Auschwitz
Who was in charge of the block?
Young Polish man
What was his advice? Why was he replaced?
To treat each other well; he was too kind
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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7. Who was Stein?
A relation of Wiesel’s family
Why did Elie lie to him?
To keep his hope alive
Why did Stein stop coming?
He found out his family died, presumably.
8. Akaba Drumer’s believed God was testing the Jews. What
did Elie think of his theory?
He did not believe that merciful God could allow so
much suffering why the world kept silent to the
horrors he witnessed.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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Chapter 4:
1. Where was music played in the camp?
On the march to the warehouse
Why couldn’t the musicians play Beethoven?
Beethoven was a German composer, and the Jews
were not permitted to play his music.
2. Who beat Elie in front of the French girl?
Idek in one of his fits of madness
Why was she afraid to speak to him?
She was a German Jewess disguised as an Aryan
What did her advice show about her?
She shows the kindness and patience that is lacking
in the camps.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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3. Who ended up with Elie’s gold tooth?
Franek
How did this person get the tooth from Elie?
Began to beat Elie’s father for marching out of step
4. Why did Elie laugh at Idek?
Caught him having relations with a young girl in a
closet
What was the result?
25 whip lashings
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
Chapter 5:
1. What is Rosh Hashanah?
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Jewish New Year’s Eve
2. What is Yom Kippur? Why didn’t Elie fast?
Jewish New Year’s Day! Day of Atonement; he felt
he fasted everyday
3. What sort of “inheritance” gifts did Elie’s father give him?
Knife and spoon
Why did Elie give the presents back?
His father survived the second selection
Night Study Guide
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4. What happened to many prisoners when they lost faith?
Lost their will to live. Example: Akaba Drumer
5. How did Elie end up in the hospital?
Infected foot
What decision did he face there?
Whether to stay, or leave with the evacuees
How did he make his choice to leave the hospital so soon after
the operation?
The man with dysentery told him the camp was to be
mined, and the ones left in the infirmary would be a
“final batch for the crematory.”
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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6. Why was the camp being evacuated?
The Russians were advancing
Why did the prisoners want the Russians to arrive first?
They would be liberated!
Chapter 6:
1. What happened to Zalman?
Had intense stomach pains and had to stop as the
prisoners evacuated. Trampled to death.
2. How did Elie and his father help each other stay alive?
They were each other’s will to live, keeping each
other awake in the snow.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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3. Why does Elie tell the story of Rabbi Eliahou?
To show the betrayal of his son
Why was he glad the rabbi “should continue to look for his
beloved son”?
It showed his persistence and love for his son.
4. How did Wiesel avoid suffocation?
He clawed and bit the “dead flesh”
Why do you think Juliek played the violin in this terrible
situation?
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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Chapter 7:
1. Why did the two men try to throw Wiesel’s father from the
carriage?
Thought he was dead
Why did the living “rejoice” when the order came to throw out
the corpses?
Created more room for the prisoners
2. How did the prisoners in the wagon act like animals?
Fought over bread with nails and teeth
Why did the German workmen take a “lively interest in this
spectacle” when they had merely stopped and stared at the
marching prisoners before?
Tossing the bread into the cars was a game to the
Germans
Night Study Guide
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3. Why didn’t Wiesel join in the scramble for food?
He knew he would not survive as a 15-year-old boy
How were Mier and his son like the other fathers and sons
Wiesel has described?
There is both protection and betrayal
4. How did Mier Katz save Elie’s life?
He saves him from strangulation
How did Elie’s father try to save Mier Katz?
Mier Katz had lost his will to live
How do you know he didn’t succeed?
Meir Katz was unable to get out of the train
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
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Chapter 8:
1. Why is it that Wiesel “could have wept with rage” when his
father begged for rest upon arrival at Buchenwald?
They had come so far, only to give up at the final leg
Why did Wiesel feel like he was “arguing with death itself”?
His father just wanted to rest, but Elie knew that was to die
in the snow.
2. SKIP
3. What emotions did Wiesel experience as he watched his father die
the last week?
Conflicting emotions. Was told to take his father’s ration for
himself, but he continued to feed his father out of love.
Night Study Guide
(plot questions)
Chapter 9:
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1. What were Wiesel’s thoughts during the months after his
father’s death?
Numbness and secret relief
How did he “cope”?
He tries to forget and focuses all his energy on
finding food.
2. On what note did this book end?
Incredibly tragic