Transcript Night - PBworks

Journal
Write about what you know about as
many of the following topics.
Adolf Hitler, Nazis, Germany,
Judaism, Anti-Semitism, genocide,
propaganda, swastika, star of
David, Nuremburg Laws
Notes:
Night, by Elie Wiesel
Meet the Author
When Elie Wiesel (1928- ) was
fifteen years old, the Jewish
people in his Romanian village
were deported and imprisoned
in Nazi concentration camps.
Wiesel survived his ordeal in the
concentration camps, but his
parents did not. He has spent
his life giving testimony to his
experiences and speaking out
against hatred throughout the
world.
Ironically Wiesel was almost
killed by a taxicab only two
weeks after he moved to NYC in
the mid-1950’s.
Background
Stark monuments to Holocaust victims and
startling memorial sculptures cannot convey the
horror so many families met.
Elie Wiesel
testifies to the
cruelty suffered
by millions, as he
recounts his own
unlikely survival.
Background
During World War II, Nazi concentration camps
were scenes of unspeakable horror.
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Firing squads
Gas chambers
Medical experiments
Slave labor
Starvation
Disease
Full facts about the systematic murder of
Jews and other targeted groups were not
known until the Nazis’ defeat. By 1945,
about twelve million people had been killed.
Literary Focus: Memoir
A memoir is a type of autobiography, an author’s
written account of his or her own life. A memoir
• is more tightly focused than
other autobiographies
• concentrates on a particular
period, often one of historical
importance
• varies in its intended impact
Memoirs continued
Memoirs serve different purposes. Some may
show how
historical
events affect
individuals’
lives
make political
or
philosophical
points
set the record
straight about a
series of events
A memoir may have any or all of these purposes.
Memoirs continued
Nearly everything Elie Wiesel has written or said
publicly has been a testimony intended to prevent
death camp atrocities from happening again.
In addition to bearing witness to his own
experiences, Wiesel has denounced the
persecution of
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Cambodians
Soviet Jews
South African blacks
Kosovar refugees
Setting(s)
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1941-Spring 1944
Sighet, Transylvania (Romania) –
Eliezer’s hometown
Concentration/work camps
• Auschwitz
• Buchenwald
• Buna
• Gleiwitz
Character Chart
Character
Name
Elie
Identity
Importance
Pious Jewish
teenager
from Sighet
Mr. Wiesel
*You will need space for 11 characters
Characters
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Eliezer/”Elie” (and his family)
Elie’s father
Moche the Beadle
Bela Katz
Franek
Dr. Mengele
Yossi and Tibi
Akiba Drumer
Juliek
Rabbi Eliahou
Zalman
Cultural Terms to Know
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Beadle: a church official
Talmud: Rabbinic writings on the practices of
orthodox Judaism.
Cabbala [kabala]: study of Hebrew scripture.
Yom Kippur: Jews in observance of Jewish
Holiday.
Kaddish: Jewish prayer for the dead.
Fascist: overly nationalist beliefs; oppressive
style government w/ a dictator.
Gestapo: the German secret police
SS: German police/soldier
Kapo: a Jewish prisoner appointed by Nazis as
labor foreman.
Literary Terms to Know
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Theme
Irony (both verbal and dramatic)
Plot elements
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Exposition
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Internal and external conflicts
Symbolism
Themes
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Father-son bonds (what psychological
effects does a traumatic event have on
family bonds?)
Faith and the belief in a benevolent god
Inhumanity toward other human beings
(what is power capable of doing if a
person is told or brought to believe that
he/she is superior to others?)
History
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Nazi Germany involved propaganda in order to
turn Germans against all Jews.
Cartoons such as this were common in Nazi
Germany. Children were even taught in the
schools that Jews were inferior.
Hitler used many tactics to create a
nationalist state. One tactic was an
identifiable symbol.
Nuremburg Laws
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Rules put in place to identify those of the Jewish
faith.
These rules outlined physical features and
bloodlines to determine who was Jewish and who
was not.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Across Cultures
Rwandan
Conflict
Holocaust
American
Slavery
Genocide and Slavery
Genocide: the deliberate and systematic
extermination of a national, racial, political,
or cultural group
Slavery: a civil relationship whereby one
person has absolute power over another and
controls his/her life, liberty, and fortune
How are the two terms related?
As you read Night, look at how Elie must
face slavery and genocide.
American Slavery
1770s – 1860s
Rwandan Conflict: 1994
Tutsi vs Hutu
Inequality of People
Turning a Blind Eye
Elie Wiesel age 15