Historical Context and Author’s Biography Introduction to Night Historical Context and Author’s Biography

Historical Context This historical narrative follows the life of a Holocaust survivor This presentation will take you through several concepts in the book as well as locations and events

Genocide From the UN: “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” Wiesel’s definition: “Mass killings of people based on ethnicity, nation, race, or religion”

Holocaust Term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately 6 million European Jews during World War II Concentration camps were the largest means by which killings occurred 3 million died in these camps Virtually the entire Jewish population of Poland died in these camps

Holocaust The Goal: Aryanization (the gradual turning of Europe into an Aryan nation) Jewish people were the largest targets, but there were others: Mentally ill Handicapped Homosexual Gypsies/Romany

Why Read About Genocide? This topic can be very challenging There have been numerous, devastating genocides throughout history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history There are still genocides today Syria Darfur (Sudan) Ethiopia Genocides will continue until stopped

Important Questions to Ponder Why do writers write about such terrible things as the Holocaust? What is the purpose of reading literature about such terrible things as the Holocaust? How do people justify things like genocide? How did the Nazis justify the Holocaust?

About the Book’s Title The Bible begins with God’s creation of the earth. When God first begins His creation, the Earth is “without form, and void; and darkness [is] upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2). God’s first act is to create light and dispel the darkness. For Elie Wiesel, darkness and night symbolize a world without God. Night is always when the suffering is worst, and the presence of darkness reflects the belief that his world is without the presence of God.

About the Author In 1944, when Elie was 15, he was deported to Auschwitz. When they arrived at the camp, he and his father were warned to lie about their ages. Elie said he was 18 and his father said he was 40 instead of 50. They were sent to be slave laborers. He is separated from his mother and youngest sister.

About the Author Born September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Romania. Grew up in a small village where his life revolved around the following: Family Religious Study Community God

About the Author Elie and his father survived first Auschwitz and then the Buna labor camp for eight months. They endured beatings, excessive work, starvation, and other torture. Elie is pictured the 7th from the left

About the Author In the winter 1944-45, Wiesel’s right knee swelled up and a doctor performed surgery on it. Two days later, the inmates were forced to go on a death march. For ten days they were forced to run, then crammed into freight cars, and sent to Buchenwald.

About the Author Of the 20,000 prisoners who left Buna, only 6,000 survived. When they arrive at Buchenwald, Elie’s father, Schlomo, becomes sick with dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion.

About the Author At the end of the war, April 6, 1945, the prisoners were told they would no longer be fed. They began evacuating the camp killing 10,000 prisoners a day.

About the Author After he was freed from the camp on April 11, Wiesel became sick with intestinal problems. After several days in the hospital, Wiesel wrote an outline for a book describing the Holocaust. He wasn’t ready to publicize his experience, but promised he would in ten years.

About the Author After Elie was released from the hospital, he had no family to return to. He went with 400 other orphan children to France. From 1945-1947, he moved from house to house found for him by Children’s Rescue Society.

About the Author By 1947, he was reunited with both of his surviving sisters, Bea and Hilda. Hilda found his picture in a newspaper. He found Bea in Antwerp.

About the Author In 1948, Elie enrolled in the Sorbonne University where he studied literature, philosophy, and psychology. He was extremely poor and very depressed. He considered suicide often.

About the Author Over time, he became involved with the Irgun, a Jewish militant organization in Palestine, and translated materials from Hebrew to Yiddish for the Irgun’s newspaper. He began working as a reporter, and in 1949, he traveled to Israel as a correspondent for the French newspaper, L’Arche. In Israel, he found a job as a Paris correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot. He traveled the world in the 1950’s. He also became involved in the argument whether Israel should accept reparations payments from West Germany.

Losing Faith In 1955, Wiesel moved to New York as foreign correspondent for Yediot Ahronot. It was around this time that he stopped attending synagogue, except on the High Holidays, as a protest against what he concluded was divine injustice. *You can see this theme develop in the book

Dedication Wiesel is outspoken about the suffering of all people, not only Jews. In the 1970s, he protested against South African apartheid. In 1980, he delivered food to starving Cambodians In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize as “a messenger to mankind,” and “a human being dedicated to humanity.” He explained his actions by saying the whole world knew what was happening in the concentration camps, but did nothing. “That is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.” *You can see this theme develop in the book

Accomplishments From 1972 to 1978, Wiesel was a Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City University of New York. 1978, he became a Professor of Humanities at Boston University. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter asked him to head the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, which he did for six years. In 1985, Wiesel was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement.

Accomplishments In 1988, he established his own humanitarian foundation, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, to explore the problems of hatred and ethnic conflicts. In the early 1990s, he lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of victims of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Wiesel has received numerous awards and approximately 75 honorary doctorates.

Quotes to Keep in Mind I write to understand as much as to be understood. No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.