Night by Elie Wiesel

  • Moishe the Beadle and Religion

    Moishe the Beadle and Religion
    Moishe was introduced as a poor man who lived "in utter penury"(3). Elie met Moishe in 1941 when he was almost thirteen. Elie at this time "studied Talmud and by night [he] would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple"(3).
  • Moishe returns with bad news

    Moishe returns with bad news
    Moishe returns after being expelled from Sighet as a foreigner. It was described that the joy in his eyes was gone. He begged the people to listen to his warnings, but no one did.
  • Seemingly normal once again

    Life seemed to return to normal. The people of Sighet listened to London radio in the afternoon. The station was full of encouraging news: "the daily bombings of Germany and Stalingrad, the preparation of the Second Front"(8). They thought better days were soon to come. Elie continued his studies with "Talmud during the day and Kabbalah at night"(8).
  • News that Germany was to be defeated

    News that Germany would be defeated came from the Russian front during the spring. The people began to doubt that Hitler could exterminate them. They thought how absurd it sounded: with that many people and in the twentieth century. It sounded impossible at that time. Elie "had asked [his] fther to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and leave"(9) to go to Palestine. His father denied, saying he was too old to start somewhere new.
  • German army vehicles in Sighet

    German army vehicles in Sighet
    They weren't fearful of the Germans at first. They said that the Germans were "distant but polite"(9). "The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out-and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling"(10).
  • Passover

    After passover, the edicts began. The first saying that "Jews were prohibited from leaving their residences for three days, under penalty of death"(10). Moishe ran to their house and said that he had warned them. Then he left without waiting for a responce. The second: "Every Jew had to wear the yellow star"(11). At the time, they didn't fear the star. However, Elie points out that they should have been more cautious with his comment sayin "Poor Father! Of wht did you die?"(11).
  • The Ghettos

    The Ghettos
    The people still didn't fear it yet. With the barbed wire fences, some still thought it was a good thing. They thought it would be good because it was entirely a little Jewish community with a Jewish Council. A Jewish welfare agency, a labor committee, and a health agency were also created. However they later realized that the Ghetto was "ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion"(12).
  • Transports

    The Ghetto was to be liquidated immediately. Departures would be the next day. Where they would be taken was a secret. Elie's family had someone, a Hungarian man, said that he would warn them if there was danger.
  • Liquidation

    They were headed out in cattle cars. They were given a little bread and some pales of water.
  • Mrs. Schachter

    Mrs. Schachter began screaming of fire. They gagged her quiet and he kid didn't try to fight them.
  • Auschwitz-Birkenau

    Auschwitz-Birkenau
    Men and women were separated instantly. An inmate told Elie to say that he was eighteen and for his father to say that he was forty. Elie said what he was told to about his age and said that he was a farmer. Then they say the babies being tossed in the fire. Elie considered how long it would take to die if he were to run into the electrified barbed wire. This is the beginning of the fall of his faith.
  • Buna

    They remained in Auschwitz for three weeks. Buna looked dead and empty. Once they passed through the showers, they were assigned blocks.
  • the golden tooth

    Elie escaped the dentist by saying that he was sick a few times. Then Franek discovered the tooth and said to give it to him. When Elie refused, Franek swore he would make him regret it.
  • Idek

    Idek was caught with a half naked Polish girl by Elie. Elie gave himself away when he laughed at how much work Idek had put just to "copulate with some girl"(57). Since he was caught, Idek forced him to be publicly whipped. After twenty-five lashes, Elie was ordered to stand up. Idek warned him that he would do fie times this is he were to tell anyone about the Polish girl.
  • the Bombings

    the Bombings
    The Buna factory was bombed. The Jews were unafraid of death. They felt that it would be great irony to have the place go up in flames. Several buildings were flattened.
  • the hanging of the Duchman and the Pipel

    the hanging of the Duchman and the Pipel
    The Duchman and the Pipel were to be hung for having weapons in the Oberkapo. The Pipel was so young and so small that he was too small to die quickly. He hung there, between life and death, for more than half an hour.
  • Rosh Hashanah

    Elie Wiese completely gave up on God. He questioned why he should give thanks to God if he had allowed the creation of the concentration camps to kill his followers.
  • New Year and Selection.

    Dr. Mengele was the one who chose who would be selected. Elie, ran as fast as he physically could. They didn't write down his number.
  • Liquidation of Buna.

    They were liquidated from the camp exactly two days before it was liberated by the Russians.
  • the Ghost town

    They were freezing as they marched. They had to stop each other from sleeping in the snow, a sure death. Elie and his father dragged themselves into a shed to sleep.
  • Gleiwitz

    Gleiwitz
    They stayed in Gleiwitz for three days. No food or water was given to them. They were forbidden to leave the barrack. Then the survivors were split. Elie's father was sent to the left. Elie ran after him, causing enough chaos to get both he and his father back to the right.
  • Buchenwald

    Buchenwald
    On the way to Buchenwald, someone tried to kill Elie. Elie's father was too weak to help so he called for an old friend from Buna, Meir Katz who was able to help. During a Alert, Elie had left his father, who was among dead bodies, sleeping, and went to seek shelter. After the raid, he found his father who was not angry. (The photo roughly translates to "The arrested German political prisoners welcome their American friends.")
  • Elie's father dies

    Elie's father dies
    When Elie woke up, his father was gone and his bed had been replaced with another sick person.
  • Liberation

    Liberation
    "At six o'clock that afternoon, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald. As free men, their thoughts were not first revenge. First was food. Then some boys went to town to bring back clothes and food. Still no revenge.
  • The hospital

    After being liberated from Buchenwald, Elie became very sick with some form of poisoning. He saw his reflection for the first time since the Ghetto. He says that "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me"(115).