"Night" by Elie Wiesel (Pg 102-116)

I find the surviving group of men to be acting almost like savages. They are so tired, cold, and hungry that they don't care about the person next to them. I think of those zombie movies when I picture these scenes in the book. I know that all they want is to live but at what cost?

"Just one word. I was suffocating. But my father had awakened and grabbed my aggressor."
Men had tried to strangle Elie.

Elie does everything in his power to remain close to his father and survive.  His father did not have the strength that Elie at the end. 

"Why don't they just shoot us now?"

When they reached their destination out of 100 men only 12 were left on their wagon.

The men became weaker and so did Elie's father.
It was truly heartbreaking to see how much he tried to protect his father from being killed or giving up.

"Eliezer...Eliezer...tell them not to beat me...I haven't done anything... Why are they beating me?"
The neighboring prisoners were bullying the sick old man. He could no longer get up to relieve himself and they angry.

Then one morning, Elie wakes up to someone else sleeping in his father's bed.  They took him with out him knowing.
"Perhaps he was still breathing..."
This was in January and he remained in the camp until April.

Nothing else mattered after his father died.
Sad but great book.

"Night" by Elie Wiesel (pg 85-102)

Since there are so many impactful words I've decided to quote them

"An icy wind was blowing violently. But we marched without faltering."
 "Faster, you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs!"
"The night was pitch-black. From time to time, a shot exploded in the darkness. They had orders to shoot anyone who could not sustain the pace."
"The road was endless."

 They were not allowed to slow down as they ran or they were shot to death.

"Chilled to the bone, our throats parched, famished, out of breath, we pressed on."

Elie uses great descriptive writing. He makes you feel like you are the one chilled to the bone and out of breath.

Many people froze to death during this part of story. Can you imagine being piled on top of eachother and knowing that some of the bodies were dead?

This is a hard ending to the book. His father starts to become colorless and some even thought he was dead. People were eager to get rid of the dead bodies. They were riding a train in the snow.

"Throw out all the dead! Outside, all the corpses! The living were glad. They would have more room. Volunteers began the task."

How can people become so unemotional? Is this what they call being in survival mode?

"Night" by Elie Wiesel (78-84)

I couldn't stop reading this book until the end. It was pretty short and I don't read on my own time. I like to read more documentary or how to books.  I really am enjoying this process.

This part of the book is interesting with thinks getting closer to the end. Elie becomes disabled as he gets an operation on his infected heel on his foot. He gets to hang out in the hospital but is afraid of being there. They all live in fear on dying everyday. He and his father are no longer in the same area but everyday they connect at some point. Rumors swept the camp that liberation was near.  Cannons could be heard in the distance. 

"It was like an injection of morphine..." this is what the rumors felt like.

The same day they heard this rumor is when they needed to evacuate!  The Russians were close and the camp was to be taken to somewhere deep in Germany.

"The camp had become a hive of activity." I like this descriptive sentence. A hive of bees is so crazy with bees flying in all directions making it hard to track where they are going.

This would begin a journey for all prisoners in the freezing cold weather. Elie decided to make the journey even though his foot had not healed yet. If he would've stayed they would've killed him.

"How much longer would our lives be lived from one "last night" to the next?" 
"Poor clowns, wider than tall, more dead than alive, poor creatures whose ghostly faces peeked out from layers of prisoner's clothes! Poor clowns!"

Great visual as he describes how they looked as they prepared for the evacuation.
                                     

Night by Elie Wiesel (pg 63-65)

Christmas and New Years they did not work? I wonder why that was. I'm glad they had 2 days.

I never knew that people died by getting hung in these camps.
"like a sword, the order cut throught the air"
They tortured the rest of the camp by making them watch and walk by the hanging body.

"then the entire camp, block after block, filed past the hanged boy and stared at his extinguished eyes, the tongue hanging from his gaping mouth. The Kapos forced everyone to look him squarely in the face. Afterward, we were given permission to go back to our block and have our meal.  I remember that on that evening, the soup tasted better than ever.."

Many brutalities were shared in this section. Stories of many more being killed by hanging. Even children being orderd to beat their own fathers for not making the bed properly.

                               

"Night" by Elie Wiesel (pg 66-77)

"The summer was coming to an end. The Jewish year was almost over. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the last day of the cursed year, the entire camp was agitated and every one of us felt the tension. After all, this was a day unlike all others. The last day of the year. The word "last" had an odd ring to it. What if it really were the last day?"

This how the chapter begins. I love how the details and the question really makes you wonder if it could be the day they kill everyone and he escapes somehow.

"Night was falling rapidly" I will keep this one in mind as a descriptive way to tell the reader what time of day it is.

I think that there's a common theme in the book about how Elie loses his faith in God. He starts off as a very religious boy.  Shortly after arriving to the camp he lost all faith. He was angry with God and asks why would he let people die. I would ask the same questions. It's hard to accept death and I asked God that question seven years ago when my oldest brother died at age 29. 

It's amazing how people in those conditions considering fasting during this time. They were given bread and soup in very small rations. 

Later on came the selection process where the weak people were taken to the cremetory.
Some men would just give up after so much sacrifice and wear on their bodies and spirts.  One man asked, " In three days, I'll be gone... Say Kaddish for me.?
I don't know what Kaddish means but by the context, I think it means prayer.

"Winter had arrived."  I already am starting to shiver. I can't imagine these people working in the cold and sleeping in these conditions. Homeless people have it better than they did. The Jews were beat , and lashed with whips. Starved and left to die.

"Night "by Elie Weisel (Pg 48-66)

I'm trying to look for writing techniques or ideas on how I would start my own chapter in a story.
This chapter starts out with a great visual.
"The camp looked as though it ahd been though an epidenmic: empty and dead."

I find there to be many forms of this type of sentence structure. I enjoy feeling like I know what he sees at that moment in time.

Descriptive sentences.
"He was a stocky man with big shoulders, the neck of a bull, thick lips, and curly hair. He gave an impression of kindness. From time to time, a smile would linger in his gray-blue eyes."
 "Our tent leader was a German. An assassin's face, fleshy lips. hand resembling a wolf's paws.  The camp's food agreed with him; he could hardly move, he was so fat."

Time.
I'm seeing the importance of tracking time. The author uses, "the first three days went by quickly", "ten minutes later", and "many years later."
I need to keep this in mind when writing.

Language.
Blockaltsete was a German Jew. He uses italics for all German words.  Meister a German employee or civilian.
The importance of this is that it reminds you that this was in a different country and culture.  I enjoy learning new words.

"Night"- by Elie Wiesel (pg 37-47)

"You are in a concentration camp. In Auschwitz..."

You are in Aushwitz? I replay this in my mind as I read. This young boy and father are going to one of the worst camps that existed. As I read this book, I start to feel the emotion of desperation and helplessness.
There is a difference in reading a holocaust story because of the terrifying endings that we can expect. I have to admit that I had a hard time putting this book down to blog. I read it from this page until the end.

However I noted sticky notes as I found some of Elie's descriptive phrases I liked.

"Comrades, you are now in a concentraton camp Auschwitz. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don't lose hope...." This was said by the SS officer in charge. I couldn't believe that there were people that had human feelings during this time.

It wouldn't last long unitl what I've seen in the movies and read in history books turned into reality.

Night- by Elie Wiesel pg (7-34)

I find myself wanting to keep on going with this book and not stop.  There is now a feeling of suspense and fear of the unknown. Moishe was a foreigner and all foreign Jews were deported due to a change in government. The Fascist government had taken over and some people only saw it as just politics.

This is interesting how the people at the time were almost unaware of what was to come in just a few months. They started seeing these changes in government and witnessed the first round of deportees leave and never question where they had gone? Things were calm and settled months later until one day Moishe reappeared in the community.

When I read moments like its so difficult.  I know what is to come and I feel so helpless . I wish someone could of warned them and that the people would've believed it was true.

Moishe tried telling everyone but he had such an unbelievable tale that no one thought he was in the right mind. 

"Moishe was not the same. The joy in his eyes was gone.  He no longer sang.  He no longer mentioned God or Kabbalah. He only spoke of what he had seen.  But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen."
What desperation he must've felt?

I really like another line that the author used for Moishe.
"They think I'm mad." he whispered, and tears, like drops of wax, flowed from his eyes.

Later the story describes the beginning weeks before the concentration camps.
The laws that prohibited Jews to have any gold or anything of value.
The gold star.
The ghettos and how they actually felt safe in there.  Even though they were couped up in one area they were amongst people who supported each other.
The final days of this deportation were so emotional.  No sleep, only eating enough to satisfy hunger to save for the unknown of the days to come. 

Elie's dad who was connected with someone in the Hungarian Police was a strong character in the Jewish community.  He plays a role of strength and wisdom to his community and family.  There is a very emotional part when they get the news that they need to prepare for deportation, pack a bag, only bring essentials. There is a long silence and then a sense of urgency to get everyone up and going. 

Elie also shares that there was a knock at the sealed window that night.  However no one was there.  After the war he found out that the friend of his father's who was part of the Hungarian Police had tried to warn them that night. 
"Before we entered the ghetto, he had told us, " Don't worry. I'll warn you if there is danger."  Had he been able to speak to us that night, we might still have been able to flee..."
What if?

"They passed me by, like beaten dogs, with never a glance in my direction. They must've envied me."
This is when he is in a file walking out of the ghetto. There had been 3 rounds of deportation. They were part of the final one.

 There is much more during this next part when they get separated to never see his mother and sister again.  The train ride and arrival to the camp. The smell he describes as burning flesh! The lies him and father both have to say to have better chances of not dying or being separated. 

I have so much to share so I will try to blog with less pages read. I just couldn't put it down. So will try to be better at this for next blog.

Night- by Elie Wiesel (pg 3-6)

The little town of Transylvania. Where is this place? I will need to look it up? I didn't know it existed maybe only in the story of Dracula?  However, I now realize that is where Elie is from. 

The Jews of Sighet.  I know there are a lot of Jews all over the world. I know that during the war they were persecuted all over Europe but I never understood why.  In the story, he begins by introducing this man called Moishe the Beadle.  The poor man jack of all trades.But this part really stood out.

"He was poor and lived in utter penury. As a rule, our townspeople, while they did help the needy, did not particularly like them. Moishe the Beadle was the exception."

I find this to still be true in society today.  For example: I see this with people who say they support the homeless shelters or people in need.  Yes you can write a check or give some of your loose change towards these people. But do you really like them? Would you offer one of them a place to sleep or simply help them out of pity or to do the "right thing"? 
This is a feeling that we still have with people in need. Just a sad but true statement.

Later the story moves on toward the discovery of meaning of God for Elie.  He was a very religious young man. He prayed quite often.  Moishe would begin to ask many questions whenever he noticed he was praying.  Why did he pray?  Why did he cry and pray? Why so many questions did Moishe ask?  So Elie began to ask them back. He asked Moishe, "Why do you pray"?

Moishe responds,
"Man comes closer to God through the questions he asks Him. Man asks God and he replies. But when we don't understand His replies. We cannot understand them.  Because they dwell in the depth of our souls and remain there until we die. The real answers, Eliezer, you will find only within yourself."

This is the beginning of a spiritual journey between Eliezer and Moishe.

Night- by Elie Wiesel (Foreword by Francois Mauric)

The next part that I read was the foreword. It was written by the French writer who helped Elie publish his first version of this book. He starts and speaks about the first time he met Elie.  Somehow the conversation lead to the times of the holocaust. Francois told Elie, "I have thought of those children so many times!" and Elie responded, "I was one of them."
I try to imagine that moment and how this conversation would lead to the changing of so many lives by sharing Elie's story.

Later Francois shares the fate of the Jews of the small town in Transylvania and how this "child" would share his story...
"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed."

I can't wait to start reading further.  I wonder how much this book will bring me back to when I read the Diary of Anne Frank?  Or will it be more graphic now that I have seen so many documentaries and movies over this subject?

"Night" by Elie Wiesel -Preface of the New Translation

I was recommended this book by a co-worker who loves to read and has a huge library of books.  We talked about how interesting this blog would be to read after reading the entire book. To be able to document this experience is pretty exciting to me as I am not much of a reader.

I started reading this while on a short break at work. My co-worker Melissa gave me just a few details prior and since it had to do with the holocaust so I immediately was sold.  I really enjoy documentary or real life story movies.  This book is a revision of the original that was 45 years ago and now his wife helped re-translate and write this version with a more original sentiment. The author was a new writer and had lost some of the story in translation and due to publisher requests.

The first sentence of the preface reads, "If in my lifetime I was to write only one book, this would be the one."  This instantly sent me a message telling me that this story really means a lot to the author.
He really goes on to just talk about what most people know about the holocaust. Like that the Nazis in Germany were killing Jews by the hundreds and thousands all over Europe. Or that Jewish men, women and children and the Jewish culture trying to be erased forever in history. So many young boys like himself would be witnesses of so much tradgedy but would never be able to have the words to say or ever really be understood.

He originally wrote this book in his mother's tongue in Jiddish.  He explained that in order for this book to be published it needed to be translated into French and English; also needing to make some cuts to the original manuscript.

Here is an example of the Yiddish version translated: "In the begining there was faith-which is childish; trust- which is vain; and illusion-which is dangerous."
The book goes on with more quotes from the original translations of the Yiddish version and it is very deep and dark and you almost feel like it's happening to you.
I am definitley hooked and excited to keep reading!