Eliezer Wiesel’s NightThe Book Night was the autobiography of Eliezer Wiesel. This was ahorrible and sobering tale of his life story.
The story takes place inSighet, Translyvania. It’s the year 1941 and World War II is occurring. Eliezer was 12 at this time and wasn’t really aware of what was occurringin the world concerning the Jewish people. He had a friend who went by thename Moshe the Beadle.
Moshe was very good friend of Elezers’. One day it was ordered that all foreign Jews in Sighet be deported byGerman troops. They were told they had to wear yellow stars to identifythemselves. Eliezers friends Moshe was also a foreign Jew, which meant hehad to be deported. Eliezer did not see his friend Moshe for months.
Whenhe finally saw him, Moshe was weeping. Eliezer asked him what was wrong. Moshe told him he was in a concentration camp. He said they threw him in apit and shot his leg, but he managed to escape to worn him to flee for hislife. Eliezer didn’t listen to him anyway.
About three days later, German troops entered Sighet. They order thepeople of Sighet to surrender to them or die. The people surrendered andhad to give up all their possessions. Moshe was right, it did happen. Allthe people of Sighet were jammed into train cars and shipped to theconcentration camp of Aushcwitz. At that point Eliezer was separated fromhis family forever with the exception of his father.
There was a largecrematory in Aushcwitz. You could smell the burning flesh in the air. Eliezer was ordered to the crematory. He came within two paces of it, butthen was ordered to the barracks. He was saved for that night only. Afterthat incident, he lived with fear of when was he going to die.
Eliezer later went to other concentration camps in Bakenau and Buna. During these years in the camps he lived through great suffering. Starvation, and survival. He also witnesses thousands of people die andmurdered including his own father. Eliezer was finally shipped toBuchenwald. Which would end up being his last stay at any concentrationcamp.
It was now the year 1945 and this ordeal was finally over. Alliedforces had defeated the German troops and the people who survived werefree. The first chance Eliezer had he wanted to look in a mirror. When hefinally got the chance he didn’t see the same person he once was.
He hadthe look of a dead corpse in his eyes, and that look is with him for therest of his life. I think the conflict that Eliezer had was not only physical but mentalalso. It was a conflict within himself to survive. In the end, heovercome it because he did survive this ordeal.
In conclusion, I think Night was very detailed book. It made merealize the horror of the Holocaust and we must never allow this happenagain. That’s the message that Elie Wiiesel wanted to spread. If otherpeople were to read this book, I think they would be moved the way I wasand realize his message.
