1. Elie Wiesel’s Night The story of a Holocaust survivor

2. Elie Wiesel Born 1928 Family was Jewish: both ethically and religiously Lived in the village Sighet, Hungary Deported in May, 1944 Rescued in April 1945 from Buchenwalk concentration camp

3. After His Rescue Lived in France with his two surviving sisters Worked as a French journalist Would not speak about his Holocaust experiences for 10 years Night first appeared in 1956 – much longer and written in Yiddish Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986

4. Context of Night: The Holocaust

5. The Beginning January 1933: Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany; Germany has a Jewish population of around 556,000 March 1933: The concentration camps Dachau and Buchenwald are opened Over the next two years, Jews are systematically stripped of power and privileges

6. The Nuremburg Laws Enacted in September 1935 Defined Judaism as a race rather than a religion Set up strict laws such as –No citizenship –No intermarrying with “Aryan races” –Required to carry identification cards that clearly labeled them as Jewish

7. The Makings of War March 1938: German troops “peacefully” occupy Austria November 1938: Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass September 1939: Germany invades Poland – WWII starts November 1939: Polish Jews required to wear the yellow Star of David June 1940: Germany occupies Paris

8. “The Final Solution” July 1941: “The Final Solution” begins over the next 4 years 6 million Jews will be murdered

9. Why? “But if I would show the good that came of it I must talk of things other than good.” OR “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” ~Dante’s Inferno

10. Night Based on Elie Wiesel’s experience but not an exact account Contains many literary elements First published 1956 First written in Yiddish, then French, then English