Novel Report

It all began in 1941. Eliezer Wiesel, a Jewish boy who was 13 years old, lived with his Father,
Mother, and three sisters in Sighet. One day, all foreign Jews were expelled from Sighet. It was a
shock, but after a few weeks, life was normal again. They had all been massacred by the gestapo (the
Nazi secret police).
That was in the middle of 1942. They heard plenty of news about their side winning the war. In
the spring of 1944, there was news that Germany would no doubt be defeated within months or even
weeks. Then one day they heard news that German troops had penetrated Hungary. Within days, the
Germans were in Sighet. They sealed all the Jews in two ghettos. They all settled in, still feeling safe.
One day, the ghettos were liquidated entirely and they were transported onto a cattle car and
taken for days until they got to a camp named Auschwitz in the middle of the night. Elie and his father
were separated from his sisters and mother and he never saw them again. The days passed by and
became routine. They stayed there for three weeks.
After that, they went to a new camp named Buna. The head of the camp looked kind. All the
inmates said it was a decent camp. On the fourth day, they got assigned to the electronics Kommando.
They basically just sorted electronic parts all day. Their Kapo, Idek, would occasionally have fits of
madness. One time, Idek was really mad and he was next to Elie, so he picked him up and threw him
on the ground over and over till he was covered in blood.
One day, they had a selection. Everyone had to go through. Elie wondered how his father
would get through, but he did. The Blockälteste told them that everyone would be okay and that
nothing would happen to anyone, even the ones that were noted. A few days later, there was a
secondary selection for the ones that had gotten noted. They told Elie’s father to go. He actually did
get noted. He thought he was going to get picked in the selection for sure, but apparently, he made it.
Winter arrived. Short days with unbearable nights, freezing wind that whipped at their bare
skin. In the middle of January, Elie’s foot started to swell so he was taken to the infirmary. The
infirmary was better than normal because there was no work, a thicker soup, and better bread. After
they operated on him, he was told to stay in the hospital for two weeks. Two days later, there was an
evacuation of the whole camp deeper into German territory because the battlefront had drawn nearer.
Elie and his father decided that they would leave with the camp instead of staying in the infirmary.
The next day, they got the final preparations ready and left in the evening. They ran all night.
In the morning, they got to a small, abandoned village. They stayed there for the day. The next night,
they marched to the next concentration camp, Gleiwitz. They stayed there for three torturous days
without food or water. At dawn on the third day, they got shoved onto roofless cattle cars, 100 people
per car. Every once in a while, they would stop to throw the dead bodies off that collected daily.
Finally, they got to their destination. Buchenwald.
Every day after that, Elie’s father got weaker. The people in the hospital picked on him. He
was suffering from dysentery. On January 28, 1945, the only thing left that mattered to Elie, his
father, was taken. For four months, Elie was in the concentration camp. Life no longer mattered to
him. Nothing mattered to him now that his father was gone. Four months later, on April 5, the whole
camp started to evacuate. On April 10, 1945, at about noon, the resistance came and they were all
saved.

 Thoughts
The author, Eliezer Wiesel lets his feelings pour into this book. In some parts, it
is hard to imagine what he might have been feeling. In other parts, it is hard to imagine
that something like that could actually happen.
I think Night is an amazing, tragic story. It is heart wrenching at some parts,
funny at others, and terrifying at others. It really made me think and I really loved it.
I really liked Night because it is really eye opening. Before I read this book I
didn’t know that much about the holocaust and World War 2. I have learned a lot about
them. I have also learned a bunch of vocabulary and a lot of historic events.
It made think and feel this way because it was very well written, and the word
choice and placement are very well thought out. He remembered the scenes with such
great accuracy that it amazes me. I am so grateful that he felt obligated to write this
book.
Some Quotes I Really Like
p.10 — “The Germans were already in our town, the Facists were already in
power, the verdict was already out — and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling.
p.33 — “I don’t know whether, during the history of the Jewish people, men
have ever before, recited Kaddish for themselves.”
p.65 —“Where He is? This is were—hanging here from this gallows…”
p.67-68 — “…I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than
the Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long.” (read the whole two pages)
p.73 — “Whenever I happened to dream of a better world, I imagined a universe
without a bell.”
p.85 — “I couldn’t help thinking that there were two of us: my body and I. And I
hated that body.
p.86 — “The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me.
p.96 — “A mouthful of bread and a spoonful of snow.”
p.113 — “From time to time, I would dream. But only about soup, an extra ration
of soup
p.115 — “Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions.
That’s all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread.