*Background Info. PPT*

Pre-Reading

NIGHT BY: ELIE WIESEL

Miss Amorin

LET’S ANALYZE THE COVER OF THE NOVEL

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, ELIE WIESEL

• Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, which is now part of Romania.

• He lived with his parents and three sisters.

• He was fifteen years old when he and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz (concentration camp).

• After the war (having endured catastrophic events during his time in concentration camps),

• Wiesel went to study in Paris and later became a journalist.

• - He then wrote his internationally acclaimed memoir, Night

(translated in 30 languages).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, ELIE WIESEL CONT…

• In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed Elie Wiesel as Chairman of the

President's Commission on the Holocaust.

• In 1980, he became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

• He is President of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, an organization he and his wife created to fight indifference, intolerance and injustice.

• Elie Wiesel has received more than 100 honorary degrees from institutions of higher learning.

ELIE WIESEL AT THE CAMP

Elie Wiesel

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What are JEWS?

Jew (j o/) o͞� nounplural noun: Jewsa member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to Abraham.

• Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world. Their sacred text, the Hebrew Bible, teaches several doctrines - such as those about God, the Messiah, human beings, and the universe - making beliefs very important to Jews.

WHAT ARE SOME JEWISH BELIEFS & PRACTICES?• Jews believe in one GOD (not Jesus Christ) known as YHWH (Yahweh).

• Many of the world's religions have hope in a future heroic figure who will rescue the righteous, judge the wicked, and restore peace to the world (Krishna in Hinduism, Maitreya in Buddhism and the Second Coming of Christ in Christianity). In Judaism, this figure is the Messiah.

• They read the Torah- religious texts that guide them on how to live according to the Hebrews> moral obligations to their God. (The Hebrew Bible)

• Many Jews practice and study Kabbalah. Kabbalah is the received wisdom, the native theology and cosmology of Judaism.

• Jews are expected to associate and marry other Jews. If not, they are seen as “dead” to their families- shiva (prayer for the dead).

• They tend to live a more conservative lifestyle- clothing, prayer, conduct, etc…

• Most are educated, hard working., and ambitious.

• Coined the idea of “interest”.

• There are different “forms” of Judaism- orthodox, hassidic,

reformed, sephardic .

SETTING #1= SIGHET, TRANSYLVANIA (ROMANIA)ONCE UPON A TIME IN SIGHET (TRANSYLVANIA) - YOUTUBE

IMPORTANT TERMS TO KNOW WHEN READING NIGHT (WILL APPEAR LATER ON QUIZZES WHEN READING)

• synagogue- place of religious worship (prayer) for Jews

• Nazis- people who show hatred for the Jews (during Holocaust mainly- Hitler’s followers)

• gestapo- Nazi guards & police

• Zionism- the idea of wanting Jews to have their own homeland ( instead of settling in other countries)

• ghetto- location of residence known to be unsanitary that has poor living conditions (where Jews were forced to move)

• exterminate- to eliminate; remove (kill)

• annihilate- to get rid of; exterminate; eliminate

• deportation- to be forced out

• fascists- (fascism) people who support national authority; support a revolution

• *anti-semitic- Hatred for a particular group of people, usually JEWS

PRE-READING WRITING ACTIVITY

• Complete the following sentence starters based on your own experiences and views.

• 1. Never should we allow…

• 2. Losing your faith…

• 3. Cruelty…

• 4. Anti-semitism…

• 5. I have never been more frightened than the time….

• 6. The hardest thing I never had to do…

• 7. People don’t want to believe the truth about…

• 8. A good son/ daughter….

NIGHT