The Night of Eliezer’s Life

The Night of Eliezer’s Life

The Night of Eliezer’s Life

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang. 2008.

The book starts with Elie living at home with his family engrossed in his Talmudic studies. Eventually he meets Moshe the Beadle who becomes Elie’s friends and teaches him about the Kabbalah. The Hungarian government sends Moshe to Poland because he is unable to prove his citizenship, but he manages to escape “miraculously” he believes, to come back and warn the Jews about what is coming. He tells the Jews of the coming atrocities but no-one listens to him. This sets the stage for the main theme of what the story is about, The Holocaust. Shortly after Moshe the Beadle arrives and tries to warn Sighet about his experiences, the Hungarian government begins to oppress the Jews. They are forced to live in ghettos; however even this only cause’s minor concern among the Jews. Elie’s father says “There they are, your Germans… Where is their famous cruelty?”(28) Shortly after came the shock and awe. The Germans imposed strict rules and curfews, and soon told all the Jews in the ghettos to pack up and get ready to leave. On the Sabbath day Elie and his family are herded into crammed cattle cars and sent on their way to the prison camp Auschwitz. “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!”(42) Shouted Mrs. Schächter to the others in the cattle car long before they had arrived at the prison camps. Once they reach Auschwitz they are unloaded. “Men to the left! Women to the right!”(47) At this command Elie was separated from his mother and sister, who that night were sent into the very flames of the crematorium Mrs. Schächter saw. After being transferred to Buna, Elie and his father spend their days working and starving until the Russians began close in on German territory near the camp. The prisoners are forced to evacuate. “Faster you filthy dogs!”(103) Elie and his Father began a multi-day march to their final destination, Buchenwald. Elie’s father contracts a deadly case of dysentery...

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