Night Litblog Pages 1-20

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-11-13

 

Pages 1-20

 

Summary: Elie Wiesel lives in Sighet, Transylvania. Elie is a Jew and as a boy he is learning about the Torah and his teacher is the poor Moishe the Beadle. Foreign jews are rounded up and forced to leave the town, and Moishe is forced to leave. He returns and tells Elie about how the Jews were forced to dig trenches and then murdered, and Moishe left to die. The Germans come to their town and slowly impose the yellow-star rule and place restrictions on the Jews. Soon, Elie and the rest of the village are sent to the small ghetto to wait to be sent to the secret destination.

Quotation: "That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell and death "(19).

Quotation Significance: Elie and his family are being rounded up and forced to run to the small ghetto until their expulsion. When the men called them some "good-for-nothings" and brandished clubs at them, Elie began to hate them. This hatred for them never ends and is the only thing they have in common.

Reflection: Elie is a Jew and was being trained by Moishe. Moishe was the poor man of the town but he had taken Elie under his wing. Elie wanted to enter the world of mysticism, but his father claims he is too young. Everyone in the town talks about World War II and many of the townspeople believe that the Germans wouldn't come for them. They tried to talk themselves into believing that the Germans would only go so far as the main city and not into the small towns and country-side. But they were wrong. The townspeople lived in denial and believed that nothing would happen to them as long as they had hope and remained calm. But the Germans found them and now the Jews are being forced to go to a secret destination, most likely a concentration camp. The signs come early, the restritions on Jews, the yellow star, the building of the ghettos and many more things. Elie sees his dad cry for the first time when they leave their home and Elie feels the despair and shame of his family and friends as they are forced to leave their homes.

Discussion Question: Why did Elie's family choose not to escape before the Germans came? Where do you think the Germans will take them?