Title: Night
Author: Elie Wiesel (translated by Marion Wiesel)
Series: Night #1
Genre: Memoir
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A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family … the death of his innocence … and the death of his God. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary Of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.
Night is a horrifying, moving, and emotional account of the atrocities of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel relates his experience as a fifteen-/sixteen-year-old boy in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Of his six-member family, only he and his two older sisters survived. Elie witnessed the death of his father only a few months before the liberation of Buchenwald, and it’s presumed that his mother and younger sister died while in Auschwitz.
While reading Wiesel’s account, I learned more about the atrocities of the Holocaust. There were things I never realized happened, and I’m even more horrified than I ever thought possible regarding the treatment of the Jews and others who suffered while in concentration camps. It’s hard for me to believe that human beings can be so cruel, yet I know it happens and continues to happen even today.
I found two passages especially moving while reading Night. The first is a poetic recount of how Wiesel’s world changed during his first night in Auschwitz. Not only did he witness the horrible things that happened to the people in the concentration camp, but he also realized how very real everything was and began to lose his faith. This was especially disturbing to him because he had devoted most of his life, his short life, to becoming closer to God.
Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.
Never.
The second passage is one that I find the saddest in the entire book. When you read this passage, you may think I’ve lost my mind. How can it be more sad than witnessing the hanging of a thirteen-year-old boy? How can it be more sad than witnessing the tossing of babies into a fiery pit? I’ll explain after.
But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger.
This passage saddens me more than any other passage because I believe that with God anything is possible. I believe God brings purpose to life. I believe God helps us through these horrible tragedies. And, without a belief in God, what reason is there to live? What reason is there to keep going, especially in the horrible circumstances Wiesel was in? To be left alone to deal with such a horrible experience would be my undoing. I couldn’t imagine facing those tragedies alone, and it saddens me that Wiesel found himself in exactly that position.
As I read Night, I often found myself thinking, “Would I have forsaken my faith like Wiesel had I been in his shoes?” I like to believe I wouldn’t have. I like to believe that my faith would increase and that I wouldn’t find myself angry at God. However, only God knows because no matter how many accounts I read of the Holocaust or of someone suffering in such horrible conditions, I can’t know how it feels to be there unless I am/was there. I can only have empathy for those people, but I cannot know how it really was to suffer like they did.
About Jenni Elyse
Jenni, this is my favorite post of any of your posts. You put into words my exact feelings about the book, about the author, about the whole horrible Holocaust. This entry is beautiful and succinct, and I say amen to everything you wrote. And I truly mean, AMEN.
Thank you for your kind words about my writing. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels the way I did while reading this book. I’m sure there are many others who feel the same; it’s just nice to know my thoughts and feelings aren’t completely off in left field.
I never have read this book and now I am thinking that I never should. I don’t handle sad books very well. Thanks for the review.
Becky – I can understand why you wouldn’t want to read a book like this because it’s sad and horrifying. I’m glad I read it, though, because it helps put my life into perspective and I remember to be grateful for the things I normally take for granted.
Wow. That sounds like an educational read. I usually shy away from Holocaust books because it was such an awful time. Sounds like your class has some interesting reads though.
I should reread this one since it’s been almost 10 years. It’s a good book. And your review was awesome. Thanks for “advertising” it. Sometimes we have to acknowledge the sad and terrible in order to have sympathy and appreciate our own lives, as you said in your comment.
Rebecca – I don’t want to say love because it’s the wrong word, but I gravitate towards things about the Holocaust. I have always found it fascinating because I don’t understand how humans go to the point to ever think doing something like they did in the Holocaust was okay.
Ashley – Exactly. The only way to truly appreciate what we have is to see what it would be like to not have it.