Night background to the novel

1. Night
by
Elie Wiesel
 The story of a young Jewish boy sent to the
concentration camps during the Holocaust
 Story of his struggle to survive, his struggle
to keep his family together, and his struggle
with God.

2. Sighet

3. Sighet Ghetto

4. WW II Background
&
The Holocaust
A. Germany was crippled by the Great
Depression. React with the rise of the Nazi
party.
B. Believed the Aryan race (Germans and
Northern Europeans) should rule the world.
1. “Final Solution” – elimination of all Jews.
Estimated 6 million Jews are killed in
concentration camps.

5. 1. Gradually stripped Jews of their rights:
a. Boycotted Jewish businesses
b. Vandalized Jewish businesses and homes
c. Forced to wear a yellow Star of David

6. a. Eventually barred Jews from public facilities
b. Transported to ghettos – “for their own safety”
c. Sent to concentration camps
ghettos: The Nazis revived the medieval term ghetto to describe their device of concentration and
control, the compulsory "Jewish Quarter." Ghettos were usually established in the poor sections of a city,
where most of the Jews from the city and surrounding areas were subsequently forced to reside. Often
surrounded by barbed wire or walls, the ghettos were sealed. Established mostly in eastern Europe (e.g.,
Lodz, Warsaw, Vilna, Riga, or Minsk), the ghettos were characterized by overcrowding, malnutrition, and
heavy labor. All were eventually dissolved, and the Jews murdered.

7. Concentration Camps Map

8. Entrance to Auschwitz in 1941. The slogan
Arbeit macht frei over the gate translates as "Work
(shall) make (you) free" (or "work liberates")

9. Selection for Death
Selection at the Birkenau ramp, 1944 — Birkenau main
entrance visible in the background

10. Auschwitz II (Birkenau)—an extermination
camp and the site of the deaths of roughly
1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, gay men and some
19,000 Roma (also known as gypsies)
Auschwitz III (Monowitz)—served as a labor
camp.

11. •The total number of deaths at the camps is estimated
at around 1-1.5 million.
•About 700 prisoners attempted escape from the
camps; about 300 were successful. Common
punishment for escape attempts was death by
starvation. The families of successful escapees were
sometimes arrested and interned in Auschwitz and
displayed to deter others from trying to escape.

13. Gas chambers

14. Crematorium

15. (Above) Left - An enormous pile of clothing taken from children who were gassed at
Auschwitz. Right - Bales of hair shaven from women at Auschwitz, used to make felt-yarn.
(Below) After liberation, an Allied soldier displays a stash of gold wedding rings taken from
victims at Buchenwald.

16. “The world is too dangerous to live in—
Not because of the people who do evil,
But because of the people who sit and let it happen.”
-Albert Einstein