| title | Night |
|---|---|
| original title | Un di Velt Hot Geshvign |
| image |  |
| image caption | Hill & Wang Edition |
| author | Elie Wiesel |
| translator | Marion Wiesel |
| country | Buenos Aires: Central Union of Polish Jews in Argentina |
| language | Yiddish (original) English (translated) |
| genre(s) | Historical fiction |
| publisher | Hill & Wang Edition |
| release date | 1956 |
| media type | Hardback and Paperback |
| pages | 120 |
| isbn | 0374500010 |
The story of Night concerns Eliezer, an Orthodox Jew, who is persecuted by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Character Summaries
Eliezer
The narrator of the story, and a fictional version of Wiesel.
Shlomo
Eliezer's father.
Moishe the Beadle
Eliezer's teacher. At first nobody believes that his experiences with the Nazis are true.
Akiba Drumer
Another Holocaust victim who becomes disillusioned because of his experiences.
Madame Schächter
Another Jewish woman from Eliezer's community. Nobody believes her claims on the train to Auschwitz, but it turns out what she is saying is true.
Juliek
A violinist Eliezer meets in Auschwitz.
Tibi and Yosi
Two brothers Eliezer befriends.
Dr. Josef Mengele
The infamous Nazi doctor.
Idek
Eliezer's Kapo in Auschwitz.
Franek
Eliezer's foreman in Auschwitz.
Rabbi Eliahou
A Rabbi who is abandoned by his son in Auschwitz. This shocks Eliezer and he swears to never be like the man's son.
Zalman
A fellow prisoner in Auschwitz.
Stein
A relative of Eliezer's.
Hilda, Bea and Tzipora
Eliezer's sisters.
Plot Summary
At the beginning of the story, Eliezer is a teenager living in Hungarian Transylvania. He is a student of the Torah and the Caballa. His teacher, Moishe the Beadle, is arrested and taken away by the Nazis.
When Moishe returns, he tells Eliezer of his awful experiences. Nobody believes that what Moishe is saying is true, though - surely it couldn't be happening.
In 1944 the Nazis occupy Hungary and life becomes a lot more difficult for the Jewish population living there. At first they are forced to live in a ghetto and then they are all taken a concentration camp, Eliezer included.
Eventually, Eliezer slowly begins to lose all faith in human relationships and in God. Eliezer is desperate not to be parted from his father, who eventually dies in the concentration camp.
Eliezer survives the horrors of the concentration camp until it is liberated by the American Forces in 1945. He is irrevocably changed by his experience, however.