Night

Night by Elie Wiesel

Born in the town of Sighet in Transylvania Elie Wiesel was an ordinary child. He persevered through countless endeavors that, with just one wrong step, would have been the end of him. He was founder of the Holocaust Memorial Council in the U.S. and was himself a survivor of the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel is one of the greatest biographical writers of the 20th century.

As a young teenager, Elie had lived his life as most Jews did in the town of Sighet. He had great love for his faith those days. But like many of the faithful it would disappear in an instant. One day, he met a boy who was nicknamed Moshe the Beadle. This was toward the end of 1941 and he was at the age of 12. He and Moshe would pray many, many times increasing their love for their god. Not only was their faith getting stronger but as was their friendship. But that all changed when the Germans came. Moshe and many others were taken away in cart trains not knowing their destination. They were all forgotten as soon as they left by most of the town. Not long after, Elie his mother, father, little sister, and the rest of the town was being taken to an unknown location. And when they had gotten there they saw the beginning of the end. They arrived at what was a factory of death. Buildings converted into crematories with people lined up against the entrances waiting to be thrown in and burned alive all at once, with endless smoke rising from the chimneys, others being beaten and tossed to the ground only to be shot down like a dog seconds later. And families getting separated the mothers and fathers, and their children being torn away from each other. He and his father were instantly separated from his mother and little sister as well. And that would be the last either of them would see each other would ever see them (as he pointed out later in the book that the women and young children were all said to be killed since they could not work in the camps). And moments later he would be in a line for the crematories. And less than a few feet away the line stopped and he and all the others in line were ordered to head back to the train carts. And it was at that moment that he said his faith had burned in the fires of the crematory.  

They were taken back to the train carts and were transported to the Nazi Camp in Germany known as Auschwitz, considered the most horrifying of all the concentration camps during the second world war.  He and his father were later transferred to another concentration camp known as Buna. He spent most of the war and his teenage years in there being forced to work constantly and abused to no end. Making and loosing new friends every now and then. And many days wishing an officer of the camps would end his suffering with a bullet or the butt of a gun. In 1944 his father and him along with the whole camp were sent on a death march to Buchenwald (since the allies were gaining ground in the war) and spent a great amount of time there as well…

This book is without a doubt one of the best biographies I have ever read in my life. It is descriptive and moving. Unsuspecting is great word for this book and you almost instantly get hooked. And there are many things he described about what went on in the camps that I didn’t even know happened. There were some parts were I couldn't put the book down because it is so compelling. I really recommend this book as I’m sure and reader would like as long as they don’t dislike tragedy!                       

Book Review by Noah H.