Today, my students began to read and listen to the first chapter of Night by Elie Wiesel. This is a captivating memoire that highlights events from one of the darkest times in recent history. The author, Elie Wiesel, takes us through his journey of survival and loss during the Holocaust. The first chapter opens up with Wiesel talking about his religion. He draws the reader in with his words and clear devotion to God. Wiesel is about or almost 15 years old at the opening of this retelling of events. He is currently struggling with his want to study the Kabbalah and his father's opposition; he believes that Wiesel is not old enough yet to understand the mysticism of the Kabbalah. This is clarified on page 4 when Elie Wiesel's father says, "You are too young for that [Kabbalah]. Maimonides tells us that one must be thirty before venturing into the world of mysticism, a world fraught with peril. First you must study the basic subjects, those you are able to comprehend." However, Wiesel finds a teacher in Moishe the Beadle, a poor man who was the well liked man of the town and synagogue. He and Wiesel spent hours going over the sacred scriptures. Eventually, as war raged on, all of the foreign jews were to be "expelled". This retelling opens in Sighet, Transylvania. Sighet was to be rid of all foreign jew, which included Moishe the Beadle. Moishe and all of the other foreign jews were put into caddle cars and removed from the town. While watching in tears, Wiesel hear a man behind him say, "What do you expect? That's war..." pg. 6. After this, life seemed to return to "normal". The shops were doing well, students were studying, and children played. The people of Sighet were led to believe that the foreign jews were working in Galicia and content with their fate. One day, Wiesel saw Moishe the Beadle sitting on a bench. Excited to see his friend and religious companion, he listened to what happened when the foreign jews were removed from Sighet. Moishe explained that they were brought across the Polish border and exterminated. They were required to dig trenches and were then shot into those same trenches. They literally dug their own graves. Babies were used for target practice. Moishe described the disposition of the gestapo (Nazi police), "Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks...He [Moishe the Beadle] was wounded in the leg and left for dead" pg. 6 Wiesel was shocked but did not believe Moishe; no one believed Moishe the Beadle.
WHY? This is a constant questions that comes up while reading this book. Why in the name of God would this happen to human being; real, live, breathing, working, loving human beings. My students (8th grade) were beside themselves when Wiesel explained the treatment of babies. Some just looked at me because they couldn't understand how this could be possible- that was just page 6. The question of why is never ending. Why do people hate? Why do people view themselves as being better than others? This small novel spills over with questions and leaves the reader frazzles, frightened, and, at some points, empty. It is an important book to teach to young adults because of the topics and discussion. Today, I saw a light ignite within all of my students. Whether they spoke or not, I could see it in their faces- in their eyes. They were thinking and absorbing AND that is what this book is about.
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