Night: With Related Readings

Deeply moving,

man’s inhumanity to man never fails to shock. Throughout history, we have witnessed countless examples of this tragic phenomenon. Wars, genocides, and acts of violence have left a trail of destruction and heartbreak.

It is truly astonishing how one human being can cause so much pain and suffering to another. We see it in the form of discrimination, prejudice, and hatred.

These actions not only harm the individuals directly involved but also have a negative impact on society as a whole.

However, in the face of such darkness, there are also glimmers of hope. There are those who choose to stand up against inhumanity and fight for justice and equality.

We must learn from the past and strive to create a more compassionate and understanding world.

Only then can we truly break free from the cycle of man’s inhumanity to man and build a future filled with peace and love.

Everyone was talking about this book, and I just devoured it. Now I understand mentally what this night was. The title of this book is "Night", and the story that follows is as dark as a night. A pitch-dark night!

When I finished the book, I recalled a few lines of Octavio Paz at the beginning of the review. "Lightning or fishes In the night of the sea And bird lightning In the forest night Our bones are lightening In the night of the flesh O world! All is night Life is the lightening".

The problem is that the story inside the title "Night" is real, not fictional, and this is the biggest plight. The anguish and horror in this book are not just the suffering of one person, Eliezer. It is a universal pain. This book is a very intimate, firsthand account of a survivor's perspective that was recorded in his memory permanently, inside the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

In the book, those horrifying events, narrated from the viewpoint of a teenage boy who suffered personal losses, seem mostly true to the core and are very scary. It's really petrifying, and I can't imagine someone had done such things to human beings. A bunch of human beings treating another bunch of humans like animals, like lifeless stuff, filling them into a cattle car and jostling them hard like mules. Not leaving even infants. Horrible!

I know well enough about the Holocaust. But this is my first try of any such intimate account on it. This year I have already begun many other books revolving around WWII and Nazi stuff. And with this one, it's a ghastly opening, very grim emotions it has produced in me.

While the book is about a very heinous and unfortunate historical wrongdoing, a shame on human civilization, the author has made an extremely legible piece of work for the general reader. The original manuscript was written in Yiddish and is translated quite well in English.

The book also shows the writerly craft of the author, where he has been able to bring out the tender and heart-touching emotions between the characters regarding friendships and father-son relations.

The boy is very possessive of his father and wishes to keep himself with him all the time, even in the face of death. He just wants to be close to his father, irrespective of whatever happens next.

A young boy inside the concentration camp asks his friend that his turn is next and now he will be dead in a few days, and thus he counts his days.

The power of Weisel's story and its engaging narration has taken me aback. How clearly he has overpowered me as a reader through his very intense storytelling artistry of a very personal account of his life.

One of the most important things that I kept noticing everywhere is the numinous undertone in the dialogues between the characters. It reveals the spiritual aspect of whatever happened in his life. An incorporeal elucidation!

This book raises many questions, most of which remain unanswered.

I’ve been having the intention to read Night for numerous years. Finally, shortly after learning about Eli Wiesel’s passing, I picked up this book. Night is not a typical book that I can simply review. It truly defies critique. Even sitting on my sunny porch, sipping a cup of coffee and attempting to analyze it, feels inappropriate. However, it is precisely the reasons why Night lies beyond the realm of criticism that render it of such great importance.

There is the Holocaust itself, and then there is the world's complex relationship with the Holocaust. By the end of the 1960s, this relationship involved the adult children of survivors, scholars, deniers, apologists, voyeurs, and those who cover their ears the moment the subject is brought up.

Night was penned before all of that. It is not influenced by other Holocaust literature. Instead, it serves as a fundamental text, unadorned source material that describes one of the most heinous acts our species has ever committed. For this very reason, I firmly believe that it should be compulsory reading for everyone.

Night is concise, and the writing is straightforward. It feels stark, honest, and hallowed, much like a powerful memorial. In the preface of my edition, Wiesel writes:

“There are those who tell me that I survived in order to write this text. I am not convinced. I don’t know how I survived; I was weak, rather shy; I did nothing to save myself. A miracle? Certainly not. If heaven could or would perform a miracle for me, why not for others more deserving than myself? It was nothing more than chance. However, having survived, I needed to give some meaning to my survival. …I knew that I must bear witness.”

Wiesel was a brilliant light in the darkness that he portrays so powerfully. His obituary in the New York Times describes him aptly, “There may have been better chroniclers who evoked the hellish minutiae of the German death machine. There were arguably more illuminating philosophers. But no single figure was able to combine Mr. Wiesel’s moral urgency with his magnetism, which emanated from his deeply lined face and eyes as unrelievable melancholy.”

When I initiated this review, I intended to post a famous photo of him as part of a group of emaciated prisoners on the day that Buchenwald was liberated. But after reading that beautiful quote, I would rather conclude with this photo of the day he won the Nobel Peace Prize. This photo illustrates the knowledge he bestowed upon the world rather than the darkness he endured.

The night had passed completely.

The morning star shone brightly in the sky.

I too had become a different person.

The student of Talmud, the innocent child I was, had been mercilessly consumed by the cruel flames.

All that remained was a mere shape that vaguely resembled me.

My soul had been brutally invaded—and devoured—by a menacing black flame.

This is truly a beautiful and devastating work.

I wholeheartedly applaud Elie Wiesel for his remarkable courage in describing these traumatic experiences with such intimacy and honesty.

He does not shy away from the dark and ugly part of human nature that can surface in such inhumane circumstances.

The description of his relationship with his father during the imprisonment is of great psychological depth.

It feels as if this is something deeply personal, something that one would only be able to share with a trusted confidant.

The level of consciousness of Elie's psychological and spiritual processes at such a young age is truly astonishing.

He describes the anger, the loss of faith, the despair, and the estrangement with painful accuracy.

It reminds me of the first part of Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning.

This is a great compliment to Wiesel, considering that Frankl was a grown man, a doctor, and a psychiatrist during his imprisonment.

In comparison to Frankl's work, Wiesel's writing has less emotional warmth and is more direct.

I think this reflects the defense mechanism of dissociation, often seen in trauma, especially at a young age.

I've read that there is also great work by Primo Levi about the experience of concentration camps that I look forward to reading in the future.

For some reason, I find writing about the experiences of concentration camps hypnotic.

Once I start reading, I can't stop, no matter how much emotional distress it causes me.

It is both deeply tragic and encouraging to see people endure hell on earth and still prevail, still maintain and even grow their spiritual and psychological strength.

I still remember the profound impact that Man's Search for Meaning had on me.

Night may not have such an evident silver lining as Man's Search for Meaning, but I found it equally cathartic.

Both Wiesel and Frankl are immense gifts to humanity.

It breaks my heart to think about how many voices were silenced forever because of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Their experiences are not just personal; they have made them universal, transpersonal, and transcendental in their writing, with the potential to heal and show that the path of light exists even in the darkest of ages.

**Un di Velt Hot Geshvign = Night (The Night Trilogy #1), Elie Wiesel**

Elie Wiesel, born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, was just a teenager when in 1944, he and his family were forcibly taken from their home to Auschwitz concentration camp and then to Buchenwald.

Night is a harrowing account of Wiesel's memories. It details the loss of his family, the shattering of his own innocence, and his profound despair as a devout Jew facing the absolute evil of man. The book serves as a powerful testimony to the atrocities that occurred in the camps and carries his unforgettable message that such horror must never be allowed to repeat.

Marion Wiesel translated this work, and François Mauriac provided the foreword. Wiesel's words, such as "We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented," resonate deeply.

The book has been published in different editions in Persian. It was first translated into Persian by Nina Esteve and later by Farideh Gohandeh and Ehsan Qarakhani. Elie Wiesel, a renowned writer, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and professor of Jewish studies, was also a Holocaust survivor. He served as a peace envoy for the United Nations from 1998 until his death.

His book Night remains one of his most significant works, vividly描绘ing the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and serving as a reminder of the importance of never forgetting and standing up against injustice.

"I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy."


These powerful words from the book Night truly tore at my heart. I had known about Night for many years, both seeing it and hearing of it. I had been hesitant to read it, wondering what I could possibly gain from yet another account of the evil that exists among our fellow human beings. I feared that I would become enraged and depressed, unable to change history. I was also reluctant to examine my own faith. However, when I discovered that my son was assigned this book as part of his summer reading for a high school English class, my perspective changed. I began to think about what I wanted him to learn from this dark piece of our not too distant past. Should he pass it by to avoid experiencing the horrifying details and feeling the terrible injustice in the world? No, I did not want him to be a passive bystander. I wanted him to understand that despite his fortunate and protected upbringing, narrow-mindedness, hatred, and bigotry still exist. Other human beings are currently suffering unimaginable sorrow and being cruelly maltreated. History has a tendency to repeat itself, perhaps with different backgrounds and groups of individuals, but we cannot let this happen. My son needs to read this book, as do his children someday. And I needed to read it too. So I did, and I cried. I was angry and disgusted with humanity. I understood Elie's words above and why he felt such despair. Everyone should read this book at least once. It is a slim book with a tremendous message.



"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere."

What can I even say about this book?

It was an absolute powerhouse of emotions. It was not only sad and depressing but also held glimmers of hope and optimism. This is the first book in the Night Trilogy, Elie Wiesel's memoir of his own harrowing experiences at various concentration camps.

It is a true story from one of the darkest and worst times in modern history. Witnessing the brutality and the complete disregard for human life that the Nazis had, as seen through the eyes of 15-year-old Eliezer, was truly heart-wrenching.

You simply cannot critique a book like this in a traditional sense. It is purely an emotional journey. You will find yourself crying, getting angry, crying again, feeling disgusted, and in the end, crying yet again.

F%#k the Nazis. The best revenge, as Wiesel shows, was survival.

I eagerly anticipate the next two books in the series, hoping that they will be just as impactful and powerful as this one.

I am certain that they will continue to touch the hearts and souls of readers, and serve as a reminder of the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust.

I vividly remember the moment when this story first came to my attention. It was several years ago when it was included in the Oprah book club list. Ever since then, I have always intended to read it.

We have read numerous novels centered around the Holocaust, and they are truly difficult to get through. However, these first-hand personal experiences are brutally harsh and almost unimaginable.

Ellie was merely 15 years old when he and his family were forcibly taken away to the camps.

I really can't add much more than what others have already said in their reviews. But I would highly recommend that you just read it. Or, if you prefer, listen to it. The audio version was quite good!

Excerpt from Night

Never shall I forget that night, the very first night in the camp, which has transformed my life into an endless night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that billowing smoke. Never shall I forget the innocent little faces of the children, whose bodies I witnessed being turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those infernal flames that devoured my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the will to live. Never shall I forget those moments that brutally murdered my God and my soul and reduced my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.

—Elie Wiesel, from Night