Night:The Denial of Holocaust Hell

"A truck drew close and unloaded its hold; small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes...children thrown into the flames" (Wiesel 33).

"Night" is the story of Elie Wiesel, the author, and his first hand accounts with the Holocaust. In this book Wiesel brings together emotions like rage, horror, and mourning. This is a very difficult book to read, but nevertheless very moving. It is a book that will make you weep, while also reassuring you that there are no obstacles that you cannot overcome. "Night" tells the dreadful truth of what took place in the midst of the Holocaust. Throughout this critical book response I will be focusing on how denial played a huge factor in the book. I will also give my personal summary of the book "Night" and other opinions of the book.

Summary of "Night"

Elie Wiesel's book "Night", is a horrific book where Wiesel tells of true life experiences in which he and his family were taken from their home to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 and then to Buchenwald. The story starts out when Wiesel is fifteen years old. At this point in his life he aspires to learn all he can about the Jewish culture from his mentor Moishe the Beadle. When the Hungarian police deported all foreign Jews, Moishe was among them. Moishe soon returned but the people could tell he had changed in some way. He desperately tries to warn the people of the town of what he has experienced. No one pays any attention, trying to believe Moishe has gone mad. Soon after his warnings German troops enter their town. Laws were passed to Jews; do not leave your households, turn in all valuables, wear a yellow star at all times, move to two ghettos, and etc.