Night background-to-the-novel

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Elie Wiesel The story of a young Jewish boy sent to the The story of a young Jewish boy sent to the

concentration camps during the Holocaustconcentration camps during the Holocaust Story of his struggle to survive, his struggle Story of his struggle to survive, his struggle

to keep his family together, and his struggle to keep his family together, and his struggle with God.with God.

Sighet

Sighet Ghetto

WW II Background

&

The HolocaustA. Germany was crippled by the Great

Depression. React with the rise of the Nazi party.

B. Believed the Aryan race (Germans and Northern Europeans) should rule the world.1. “Final Solution” – elimination of all Jews.

Estimated 6 million Jews are killed in concentration camps.

1. Gradually stripped Jews of their rights:a. Boycotted Jewish businessesb. Vandalized Jewish businesses and homesc. Forced to wear a yellow Star of David

a. Eventually barred Jews from public facilitiesb. Transported to ghettos – “for their own safety”c. Sent to concentration camps

ghettos: The Nazis revived the medieval term ghetto to describe their device of concentration and control, the compulsory "Jewish Quarter." Ghettos were usually established in the poor sections of a city, where most of the Jews from the city and surrounding areas were subsequently forced to reside. Often surrounded by barbed wire or walls, the ghettos were sealed. Established mostly in eastern Europe (e.g., Lodz, Warsaw, Vilna, Riga, or Minsk), the ghettos were characterized by overcrowding, malnutrition, and heavy labor. All were eventually dissolved, and the Jews murdered.

Concentration Camps Map

Entrance to Auschwitz in 1941. The slogan Arbeit macht frei over the gate translates as "Work (shall) make (you) free" (or "work liberates")

Selection at the Birkenau ramp, 1944 — Birkenau main entrance visible in the background

Selection for Death

Auschwitz II (Birkenau)—an extermination camp and the site of the deaths of roughly

1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, gay men and some

19,000 Roma (also known as gypsies)

Auschwitz III (Monowitz)—served as a labor

camp.

•The total number of deaths at the camps is estimated at around 1-1.5 million.

•About 700 prisoners attempted escape from the camps; about 300 were successful. Common punishment for escape attempts was death by starvation. The families of successful escapees were sometimes arrested and interned in Auschwitz and displayed to deter others from trying to escape.

Gas chambers

Crematorium

(Above) Left - An enormous pile of clothing taken from children who were gassed at Auschwitz. Right - Bales of hair shaven from women at Auschwitz, used to make felt-yarn. (Below) After liberation, an Allied soldier displays a stash of gold wedding rings taken from

victims at Buchenwald.

“The world is too dangerous to live in—

Not because of the people who do evil,

But because of the people who sit and let it happen.”

-Albert Einstein