Download Journal- 10/16/08- Night

Night
 List all things that you associate with the
word, “Night.”
 Try to make a long list, think of everything
you can.
What do we know?
 About the Holocaust?
 About Adolf Hitler?
 About the Jewish religion?
Nonfiction Unit
 What is nonfiction?
Nonfiction
 Writing that presents and explains ideas or
that tells about real people, places, ideas
or events. MUST be true.
Biography & Autobiography
 Biography- A form of nonfiction in which a
writer tells the life story of another person.
 Autobiography- A form of nonfiction in
which a writer tells his or her own life
story.
Memoir
 Though the story is written in narrative
form, it is not a novel
 Memoir: brief autobiographical work in which
the author recounts events he has witnessed
and introduces people he has known
 In Night, published in 1960, Wiesel tries to
find some explanation for the events he
witnessed.
Night: Think-Ink-Pair-Share
When you see something that’s wrong, do you just
stand by?
Or do you act to
try and stop it?
Night: Introduction
Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night describes a horrible
time in the twentieth century, when too many
people looked away from a terrible wrong.
Night: Introduction
In 1941, Eliezer was a
twelve-year-old boy who
lived with his father, mother,
and three sisters in a small
village, Sighet near the
border of Romania and
Hungary.
Night: Introduction
Eliezer was a religious
Jewish boy who
welcomed nightfall as
a time for prayer and
who thought of
becoming a rabbi.
Night: Introduction
But when Nazis took over Eliezer’s Jewish
community,
his family was first sent
to live in a ghetto and
then taken to Auschwitz,
one of the most infamous
concentration camps.
Night: Introduction
Eliezer and his father were separated from
Eliezer’s mother and sisters.
He would never see
his mother or his
youngest sister,
Tzipora, again.
Night: Introduction
Inside the camp, Eliezer will witness horrible acts of
cruelty and suffer in terrible ways.
How will he survive?
Can his religious faith
endure the atrocities he
witnesses?
What message does he
bring to the world from
such horror?
Night: Background
In Night, Elie Wiesel shares his story of the
Holocaust, the name given to the persecution and
murder of millions of Jews and others during World
War II.
Holocaust comes from a
Greek word that means
“a burnt offering.”
World War II
 Axis Powers:
 Germany, Italy, Japan
 Allies:
 USA, Great Britain, Russia
Adolf Hitler
 How did he gain power?
 Germany is left in ruin after WWI
 Hitler helps a disillusioned country back into
economic health
 Convinces his followers that the German
hardships were the fault of Jewish people
Genocide
 The deliberate and systematic destruction,
in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial,
religious, or national group.
Night: Background
Germany began World War II when it invaded Poland
in 1939.
German forces conquered most of Europe in the next
two years.
Night: Background
Wiesel’s story begins in Romania (now Hungary) in
1941 and ends in 1945. When Germans took over
this area, local Jews were persecuted.
They were forced to wear yellow stars and to live
in ghettos, and were then sent to concentration
camps.
Night: Background
Auschwitz, where Wiesel was sent, was the largest
camp.
Jews from all over Europe arrived almost daily at
Auschwitz.
Night: Background
Nazis also targeted other groups:
• Gypsies
• Russians
• non-Jewish Polish
intellectual and
religious leaders
• Communists
• Jehovah’s Witnesses
NIGHT: BACKGROUND
World War II ended in Europe in 1945 with the
surrender of German forces to the Allied forces.
More than six million Jews had been killed in the
Holocaust.
Night: Background
Between 1945 and 1946, the Allies tried twentytwo major war criminals for their crimes against
humanity.
In later years Israeli
agents worked to
capture and bring to
justice Nazis who had
escaped the war
trials.
Judaism
 Dates back 4,000 years
 Shares many ideas with Christianity and Islam –
all 3 religions were originated in the middle east
 Hebrew Bible is what Christians call the Old
Testament
 Important Holidays:
 Rosh Hashanah
 Yam Kippur
 Passover
Jewish Terminology
 Torah- Torah is typically translated "law," but it also
means something like "instructions" or "directions." For
these five books are rules or directions for Jewish life
and worship.
 Talmud- The is a record of rabbinic discussions
pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It
is a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. – For the Rabbi’s
 Kabbalah- a particular study of Judaism that studies the
mystical aspects of the religion.
Jewish Holidays
 Rosh Hashanah- Jewish New Year. On Rosh
Hashanah, Jews all over the world gather in
synagogues to celebrate the day HaShem(God)
created Adam and Khavah (Eve), the first
humans. Happens in September.
 Yom Kippur- holiest day of the year. Jews
traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour
period of fasting and intensive prayer, often
spending most of the day in synagogue
services.
Night: Discussion Starters
Discuss (1)
The German soldiers followed orders to
persecute and murder Jews. Many people were
bystanders who let the actions unfold without
doing anything.
• What is the danger of blindly following the
orders of others?
• Why do you think some people stand by and
do nothing to help others in need?
Night: Discussion Starters
Discuss (2)
What other genocides—attempts to kill large numbers
of a group of people—have you heard or read about?
• Did people ignore these genocides or try to stop
them?
• What do you think makes people hate members of
another group?
Difficult Vocabulary – Chapters
1 and 2
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Compatriots – fellow countrymen
Edict – law, official statement
Expound – to set forth in detail
Firmament – the heavens, sky
Hermetically – airtight
Pestilential – filled with disease
Phylacteries – small boxes containing scripture
Pillage – to rob with violence
Premonition – anticipation of a negative event
Truncheon – police officers stick