“Night” Blog Journal Entries

May 31, 2013

Language Arts

“Night” Journal Entry 4

            Elie Wiesel writes “Night” in a very “controlled” way. This is such a serious topic and very out of control. The whole concept that thousands of Jewish people were being killed every day and in the long run 6 million died is very hard to grasp. Many people think why did this happen? Didn’t people see Hitler’s plans? The pictures online and the description that is told in the book are horrifying and sad. How could babies be used as throwing targets? Didn’t anyone feel guilty killing the Jewish people? Wiesel writes his book so people can grasp it all in and not lose it.

            I think the main reason why readers who read “Night” can understand the topic is because it is told through a boy named Eliezer’s life. We can connect to the character because it talks about his insights and religion and life. For me, instead of getting all the facts and seeing pictures of the Holocaust, it’s easier if I have a real life story that tells about the topic. I really like how “Night” starts off with the very day life of a Jewish boy who is clueless about what is happening to Jews in Europe and when he is warned because he has so much faith like everyone else they don’t believe Moshe the Beadle. I know that I have seen this in movies and in life. Like when someone is told that a loved one is dead they refuse to hear it and try to find their loved one. In the end when you find out they are dead you lose faith. That is exactly what a writer should do; bring the reader to a point where they can make their own opinions and insights. Many Jewish people felt the same way as someone who just lost a loved one, but theirs is more serious because they lost God. Why had God abandoned them? Eliezer talks about how he used to be very faithful and always strived to be the best at his religion, but even he slowly turns away because of all the events that happen in Auschwitz. See I can connect to that and question all the events that have happened because of the Holocaust. It’s special and honorable to be able to read a real life story about Auschwitz that Elie Wiesel wrote. In a way it’s like I am connected to Wiesel because he has written a story so everyone knows about what happened in his life. It was written for me. It was written for you. It was written for all who come across this magnificent book.

            This book has definitely changed my life because like I said in my letter to Mr. Wiesel I used to be immature and not think about what I said. The jokes I laughed at were funny at the time. They wouldn’t hurt anybody. I have come to learn that two single words in the joke, Holocaust and Jew, have a whole history behind it. The jokes hurt people and I am sad to even have been part of the laughing. I am so grateful that I learned about this topic. Whenever I see the perfect night sky with a spectacle of brilliant stars I will look back I will think of the millions lost and say, “It’s no longer night, because you have learned to make your night a bright day.”

Journal Entry 3 Elie Wiesel Letter

May 29, 2013

Dear Elie Wiesel,

            I want to start out by telling you how much I appreciate what you have taught me by writing “Night.” It has touched my heart and during this reading it brought forth some mature discussions that were thought about thoroughly in my eighth grade class.  The holocaust is an important part of history that kids should be made aware of because in the long run it could prevent this tragedy from never happening again. You really paint the picture of what it was like to be a Jewish person experiencing these horrors while in Auschwitz.

            Before I read this book I would her all kind of jokes about the holocaust and the scary part was that I wasn’t well informed about this time in history that I would actually laugh at the jokes. I’ve matured over the years and it has been a life lesson learning about the holocaust. Seeing the videos and pictures almost brings me to tears. How could this have happened? How did it go on for about five years? These are the questions I ponder about while reading all sorts of stories about the holocaust. I look at the kid at the beginning without knowledge and think how could I have been so clueless? But I am happier than before because I know now that I will always think before I say or act about a topic I don’t know about.

            Compared to what has happened in Auschwitz I have never seen violence near as bad. I’ve seen the occasional punching, but never have I seen people getting shot, people getting thrown in fire, or young children getting killed in terrible ways. To me it seems like I would lose all faith forever. Was their ever a time where you directed your anger toward the Nazis? Well, I can’t know for sure because I wasn’t in your shoes, but I tend to blame the people who are doing the physical things to me. Did you believe in God as your savior? How had you made a collection with God like he was your friend? A living person.

            It’s funny how I complain about being cold outside in a tent when I should really be thinking about how lucky I am. It was very surprising to hear how bad the treatment was in Auschwitz. You talk about how the camp has changed you. You would normally fight someone if they were beating up your dad. In a way the camp took away courage and faith. Did you ever have moments when you just felt like fighting your way out of the camp? Were there such groups that brained stormed ways to start a resistance? Is there a reason why they didn’t get far if there was? Did you ever look up at the stars and get a spark of hope that someday you will be reunited with your mom and get a sense of love? Thank you again for writing this book. It really touched my heart. I will never forget your story.

May 22, 2013

Language Arts

“Night” Journal Entry

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.

Never shall I forget that smoke.

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.

Never.” (Pg. 34)

            Never, never shall I forget sounds like an eternity to have this weight on your shoulder. To have to remember flames. To have to remember screams. To have to remember having an empty stomach. To remember when you lost hope. And above all remembering a place with no love. Night seems to wrap all this horror together. People in Auschwitz, for most remained in terror never to see the crack of dawn, daytime when camps were liberated. As soon as you get onto the train all light is consumed by darkness, cramped into a cattle cart like cattle themselves. About eighty people in an area so small people are breathing down your back. Night symbolizes dread and loss of hope without any light.

            “Jews look! Look at the fire! Look at the flames! As the train stopped, this time we saw flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky…We stared at the flames in the darkness. A wretched stench floated in the air. Abruptly, our doors opened.” (Pg. 28) The irony Jews experienced when they first saw the entrance of Auschwitz must have been terrible. This is where all hope and faith was lost knowing that they were in for a long terrible journey. A journey that turns the rest of your days, “into one long night.” I find it very cruel how the first words that are spoken to you are, “Men to the left! Women to the right.” The suspense must make people crazy with questions. Why are we being separated? Will I ever see my family again? Will I die? To make matters a man with dirty hands points at you and selects you. Two groups are made walking toward the crematorium, but at the last second one group turns. The humanity if you see that you are not the one that has turned. I really wonder what people were thinking if they were in the lines that weren’t so lucky. To be the group who turned and looking upon the faces that were not so lucky must have made people so guilty with the one question in their mind. The question that many survivors ask themselves today. Two simple words, “Why me?” Elie Wiesel asks himself these same questions. Even though I was not there I even question why these certain people lived what about them allowed them to stay alive? It’s not that you were the strongest if you survived or that you were the luckiest. You survived for a reason and that was to tell your story to the world, so the world knows never to repeat this part of history ever again. I am very fortunate that I never lived in such a time that my family or I could be in danger due to the way we look or the way we believe.

            The way Auschwitz shaped people is something Eliezer experienced and questioned himself. The lost of hope and what you stood for. All the running, yelling, and beating made Jews worn out and scared to question the way things ran. Its way the first time Eliezer’s dad got beat up he just stood there in shock. “I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal’s flesh. Had I changed that much.” (Pg. 39) What Jews experienced and saw on the first day crushed their spirits and courage. Any inequality would now become life because people feared being killed or worse tortured beyond belief. I am very shocked that even a group that was being executed and worked to death could still keep hope even when they lost it somehow they were able to gain it back. Beat and starved to death I would crumble under the pain that was caused. I really liked reading how when the camp was being bombed people gained hope and confidence back.

            Why did the prisoners yell at the new comers? Did they know that the new comers didn’t know about the fate that await the? Was it an act, so they could save people from being killed? Like when an inmate told Eliezer and his dad that they were now eighteen and forty. Has anyone ever escaped the camp and if so did they tell about the camp?

            It’s hard to come to realize how big this event in our history was and how no one saw it happen for five years.