INTRODUCTION TO NIGHT

A BACKGROUND TO THE HOLOCAUST

Eliezer Wiesel 1928—present •Born 9/20/1928 in Sighet, Transylvania•Studied the Talmud, Hasidism, and the Cabbala as a child and teen•Sighet Jews sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944 when Elie was 15•He was 16 when the war ended and he was released•After the war, he refused to speak about his experience for 10 years•Realized he had a duty as a survivor to let others know what happened•Night was published in 1958

•Married another Holocaust survivor, Marion Rose, in 1969•Became Professor of Humanities at Boston University in 1976•Honors and Awards:

–Nobel Peace Prize–Freedom Cup Award–Jacob Javits Humanitarian award–Medal of Liberty–Inducted into the Academy of Achievement

•Continues to write and speak for peace and human rights

1. What was the Holocaust?

•The systematic annihilation of 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime•By 1945, 2 out of every 3 European Jews had been killed•Other victims included gypsies, the handicapped, homosexuals, political dissidents, Soviet prisoners of War

2. Who were the Nazis?

•The National Socialist German Workers Party•An anti-Communist, anti-Semitic, racist, nationalistic group•Led by Adolf Hitler– restricted basic rights such as freedom of speech, press, assembly•Established a dictatorship

3. Why did the Nazis want to kill large numbers of innocent people?

•The Nazis believed the Germans to be “racially superior”•Jews, gypsies, and the handicapped were viewed as a threat to the “biological purity” of the German race•Jews blamed for defeat in WWI, economic problems, and spread of Communism

4. How did the Nazis carry out their policy of

genocide?

•Jews and gypsies were initially shot in open fields•6 extermination centers created– murder by gas, disposal through cremation•Victims deported to these centers from Nazi-established ghettos in Eastern Europe•Many died due to starvation, forced labor, and disease

5. How did the world respond

to the Holocaust?

•Rumors started in 1930s-US and British gov’ts received confirmed reports in 1942•Neither country modified its refugee policy•Focused more on defeating Germany than rescuing prisoners•Anti-Semitic groups aided the Nazis

Themes1. Man’s Inhumanity to Man

• Why are humans capable of such cruelty to each other?

2. Loss/Questioning of Faith• Pay attention to how Elie’s experiences

cause him to question and lose his faith in God

3. Survival• How far are humans willing/capable of

going in order to survive

4. Silence• If God is good, why is He silent when

horrible things happen?

5. Father & Son• Pay attention to Elie’s relationship with

his father and how it changes

The more we know, the better chance we have of preventing

such an atrocity from happening again.