MYP4 English Language and Literature

Interdisciplinary Unit on Peace & Conflict

Text​: Elie Wiesel’s ​Night(​ 1953)

Task A:

When chapter 3 opens, Eliezer and his family have been forced from their homes in Sighet,
Transylvania, and deported in cattle cars to Birkenau, a selection checkpoint for all Auschwitz
newcomers. Here, he and his father were separated from his mother and sister.

But how did Eliezer and his family move from Sighet to Auschwitz? What factors were in play which
led to this transportation? Draw a timeline (using shapes and arrows) reflecting on 4 major events
that led to the transportation of Wiesel to Auschwitz. I have started the timeline off for you:

EXPULSION OF ALL JEWS FROM SIGHET

Rushed into cattle cars, off to Auschwitz

Waiting in tight compacted cattle cars, arrived at Birkenau

Arrived at Auschwitz

Him being told to change his age, realisation.

Task B:

Mention 5 things that Wiesel and other Jewish people have to undergo during their first day in
Auschwitz.

1. Being separated from their families

2. Lie about their age for safety

3. Strip

4. Run around, get dressed

5. Work

Task C:

Imagine you are Wiesel or another person who has just spent one day at Auschwitz and have gone to
sleep for the night in your bunk bed. Recall the sensations and experiences of your first day.

Make an attempt to describe your reflection using imagery (​visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and
auditory). ​Your reflection should be about 400-500 words. Be faithful to the plot of the story.

Father of Ellie:

“Hearing the yelling of the officers, I looked down at my kids and saw them trembling, it would be
ok. We are only being transported to a safer area. Right? We were the last ones to be transported,
so we had only a small amount of food for the next week or more. Never in my whole life would I
imagine that the last time we would sleep on a mattress, having food in the morning, afternoon and
night, would be in 3 days. I made sure my children and wife slept soundly, I stayed up that night,
something in my stomach wasn’t feeling right. Last night, my brother and his family left to the area
where we were told to go. I needed to vomit. It’s going to be ok. He is ok. I reassured myself over
and over. I soon woke up to the sound of more screaming. This time it was our turn. I looked around.
I saw one cattle car, and I checked the area around to see hundreds line up. I rushed to get my stuff
and woke up my family. We stood in line like good sheep. I looked behind me and realised that we
were one of the 20 in front. I made sure of that, thank god. I saw a lot of them smiling and children
playing. The officers came up to them, yelling at the parents. Everything was quiet.

Mrs Schächter is going mad. You can hear her yelling, crying, the flames. She cries. The flames. Those
flames, that will haunt me till the day I die. I should have listened, I should have run. We nearly ran
out of food, but after 3 days, we arrived in Birkenau, everyone was confused, weren’t we not
supposed to cross the border? What was going on? I could smell the sweat and fear of everyone.
Disgusting. My son and I looked out of the window. Auschwitz. What kind of name is that? We all
got out of the cattle cars, and we realised what this was. Flames, On the chimney. German SS officers
Yell at us. Men on the left, Women on the right. They yell. This man started to interrogate us. He
asked my son how old he was. Now, he was eighteen, apparently, and I was forty now. My wife and
my daughter disappeared from sight. My son looked at the chimney, and back down. The fire was
bright and smelled like death itself. I looked too. Babies, babies were being burnt there. My son
trembled to hold my hand. What monster would do this? I started praying. Like the other men who
noticed. I hear screeching, smell death, and feel the hand of my son, as she shook. Something wasn’t
right. No, it is ok, we will reunite with my wife and daughter, and everything will be ok. Everything
will be just fine.
“NEXT!” An officer yelled.”