Night
by Elie Wiesel

"For the dead and the living, we must bear witness."


"I wrote it for the other survivors who found it difficult to speak."

PROFILE
Elie Wiesel was only 15 when German troops deported him and his family from their home in Romania to the concentration camp, Auschwitz. The young boy survived forced labor, forced marches, starvation, disease, beatings and torture to become a world-renowned writer, teacher and spokesmen for the oppressed peoples of the earth. He is best known as the most eloquent witness to the great catastrophe to which he was the first to give the name "Holocaust." After the war, Elie Wiesel determined to relate his story to the world. His book Night is one of the classic accounts of the Holocaust. Since its publication, he has written dozens of books, including novels, plays, books of essays, biblical commentary and works on Jewish folklore and mysticism. Throughout his career, he has continued to speak out for victims of oppression all the world over.


Buchenwald prisoners after liberation - Elie is on 2nd bunk from
the bottom, last one on the right (by the beam)
 

Be sensitive in every way possible about everything in life.  Insensitivity brings indifference and nothing is worse than indifference. Indifference makes that person dead before the person dies. Indifference means there is a kind of apathy that sets in and you no longer appreciate beauty, friendship, goodness, or anything.

UNIT CALENDAR

LINKS
Nobel Prize site: biography, award information, speech & more
Interview with Elie Wiesel: transcript of interview, photos
Oprah Talks to Elie Wiesel (from O magazine)
Night Study Guide with excellent discussion questions
Book Rags Study Guide: author, context, plot, characters, quotes & more
SparkNotes has an excellent, in-depth study guide
Night Internet Scavenger Hunt
Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Elie Wiesel biography & bibliography
PBS' Elie Wiesel: First Person Singular has photos, information, activities & more
The Perils of Indifference (speech for President Clinton's Millennium Lecture series)
A Conversation with Elie Wiesel
Bio at Boston University site (where he's a professor)


Elie at age 15, shortly before he was deported

WORDS OF WISDOM

When I realize there is a student there, in the corner, who understands, there is a flicker in the eye. That is the greatest reward that a teacher can receive.

I would say, favor the question, always question. Do not accept answers as definitive. Answers change. Questions don't. Always question those who are certain of what they are saying. Always favor the person who is tolerant enough to understand that there are no absolute answers, but there are absolute questions.

Every minute can be the beginning or the end of an adventure.

Interviewer: "What is your hope for this generation that follows us?" Elie Wiesel: " I would not want my past to become their future."