Night

This small, light book has some of the world's heaviest and most inhuman acts documented within it. It is a vivid tale of one of the darkest period in the history of the humankind. Weaved in a chronological order, Night is an autobiographical piece by Elie Weisel, who, in early 1940s witnessed life and death win and lose simultaneously. This book deep dives into the darkest corners of human. Things that he is capable of doing when left with no other possibility, things he can endure, things he can survive, things he can take lives for, things he can ditch his own blood for. It is a story of survival, of strength, of loss, of grief. Again, having devoured humongous amount of material on the holocaust, this tiny book has delivered me with many unheard details. These details come back and haunt you, and strengthens your decision of never being silent where humankind starts losing its humanity. It torments me to even think of the cruelty that the sufferers had to endure, and the barbarism that the tormentors not only help executed and administered but relished doing so. Line of prejudices go long back and go deep; it is like a contagious disease that affects not only the host body, but those around him too; thence, it becomes doubly important to get rid of the disease's root cause, not just the disease in itself. Remember what ever differentiates a human from a non-human. As put straight and plain by Elie Wiesel in his speech- "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere...wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must- at that moment- become the center of the universe." This thin book, like that of any on holocaust, can give you volumes to think about. PS: I, from the writer's perspective, think that the book could have been much better at places. But the subject that it holds is beyond all those literary aspects. If it succeeded in making me rethink about humanity and its capabilities, it fulfilled its purpose.

Provide a clear picture of holocaust struggle. It is disheartening to know what humanity has done to humanity.

Reminded me of The Diary of A young Girl though it is much more poignant . I wish i could read the longer version of book . Deeply moving and revealing the atrocities carried out on Jews During World War II . Did such a world really exist where live babies were thrown into chimneys as useless stuff and in contrast to our thinking a smoking chimney was a dreadful sight. How would it be to travel in a cattle train heaped on each other with no toilets or even breathing space or to feel happy to have the dead removed so as to have some air for desparate lungs !!! How is it to steal a piece of bread from ones father or worse to kill him for it ? ....many more such gory details ...

I was not aware of Holocaust and this book came as such a shock. And to know that this really happened! Shook me to my core. It's worth the read go for it!!

Night by Elie Wiesel as a subject is well known to all those who have had any interest in Modern History of the World in general and of Europe, in particular. The Holocaust, whatever, some apologists and collaborators might say, was a terrible reality and the methodical, deliberate and dedicated extermination of the Jews on some vague superfluous theory had indeed happened. It is also a fact that Europe, still the most powerful continent having countries like Britain, France and Spain, apart from Russia, were a silent witness to the mass murders. No one protested with any effectiveness. The writer, therefore, is justifiably peeved at the silence of the so called civilized mighty nations and societies surrounding the epicentre of such extreme terror. As a first hand account of the prolonged suffering, the dehumanizing effect it had and the attempted decimation of a race are startling. The initial reaction is that of a violent rage which the reader doesnot believe ever existed within him, the frightening wish to break open this cursed earth, tear it apart and unleash and throw its molten core and lava into space, to shove into disarray the elliptical movement of the planets. And then, as the fury recedes, the empathy, the grief and the helplessness that history cannot be corrected, take over. More unfortunate is the fact that such tormenting and destruction of millions is still going on in the Middle East and Africa. But Wiesel did a commendable job : he disallowed the final satisfaction to the brutes and their sympathizers by speaking up by telling us the story of his horror.

Great book portraying great emotions. holocaust was one of the worst incidents that has happened in humanity. Breaks my heart to read how it transformed and traumatized the author . It's a must read and no one should every forget what happened in the past . Never again .

It is possibly the most moving narrative I have read. The book helps you develop an appreciation of life and how lucky we are in general. The book is aptly titled as it explores the darkest times in human history.

This book sensitizes the reader about the Concentration camps . Very emotional, very eye opening.

Lu en classe avec mon cours d'anglais, ce livre est une merveille qui vous laisse des traces. Relatant le tragique passé de l'Auteur, chaque chapitre est un nouveau coup de poing. Certains passages sont difficiles à lire, non pas à cause de l'écriture. Mais bien de la réalité atroce qui y est décrite. À lire absolument.

Great person. Valuable story. Awful history. Might not be the best work on the subject, it is one of the most valuable.

I had read Eyewitness at Auschwitz by Filip Mueller. It was raw and had very tough content. Here, the book by Élie Wiesel was written in a very different emotional way. The words hit me almost physically and at one stage, I was crying. Both books are pretty fantastic but in less words than Filip Mueller, you feel the tragedy much more. I worked as à proofreader. Words very rarely reached my gut like that. I could not put either books down and ended up reading them both, one after the other. I will.never forget the book by Élie Wiesl. This is powerful stuff.

Un acogedor relato sobre la estupidez humana y la animalidad que vive en cada uno de nosotros, sin embargo, en cada página se muestra el corazón de la humanidad, lleno de esperanza, de ilusiones que aún lejanas defienden lo más valioso que poseemos: la vida.

This is a new, 2006, translation by Marion Wiesel of Elie' first book, written in French, published in 1958, first appearing in English in 1960. It is the story of what happened to the Wiesel family in 1944 and 1945, before and during their deportation to Auschwitz, and mainly the story of Elie's and his father Shlomo's time in Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz III (Buna Monowitz). Tzipora (Elie's little sister) and his mother were immediately sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz II (Birkenau). He had two older sisters who survived the camp. Elie's memories (he was 15 when deported) are powerful. His fear and amazement at the horrors he witnessed are palpable. He and his dad struggled together, trying to support one another in an environment they had never dreamed could exist. The chaos and violence of Auschwitz are clearly transmitted in the words of a terrified teenager. This is more than a book worth reading; it is a hugely powerful testament to how hatred travels and to its almost inevitable results. This new edition also contains Elie Wiesel's acceptance speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.