Customer Rating: 
Summary: Human Words Cannot Convey the Story
Comment: If you come across someone who wonders whether or not human beings are totally depraved, hand them a
copy of this book. Night is a short book describing Wiesel's year in Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
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The book begins with Wiesel's family living peacefully in Transylvania during the later
years of World War II. Trouble seems distant though rumors abound. The Jewish community in Sighet
continues to live and love just as before. Wiesel tells about a devout Jewish man who had witnessed
the horrors of a concentration camp and escaped. Upon arrival in the village, he began to warn
everyone of the impending danger. But the villagers scoffed at his warnings. They did not believe
that humans were capable of such evil. Even after the Jews were moved to the ghetto, Wiesel
describes his family as still hoping and trusting that nothing worse would take place.
/>Then, the concentration camp. Wiesel describes in horrific detail the "chimney," - the place where
Jews (even babies) were thrown alive into a blazing fire. Wiesel rebels against God. He refuses to
fast on Jewish holy days. He questions the existence of God. The human evil of Auschwitz is too
overwhelming to comprehend. Wiesel claims that human words cannot express the suffering he
experienced.
Throughout the narrative, Wiesel expresses shock and dismay at the evil of
his persecutors. But intermingled into his account is his surprise at his own depravity manifested
in his basest instincts. His recollections are littered with regret, with anger, and remorse.
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Wiesel's account forces the reader wrestle with questions about human depravity, God's
sovereignty, the reason for suffering. The most disturbing scene in the book takes place when an
innocent boy only 12 years old is forced to die, though he did not commit the crime for which he is
punished. He and three others are placed on the gallows and hanged. The rest of the prisoners are
forced to walk by and look squarely into the faces of the executed. But "the third rope was still
moving. The child, too light, was still breathing... And so he remained for more than half an hour,
lingering between life and death, writing before our eyes..."
"Behind me, I heard the
same man asking, `For God's sake, where is God?'" And from within me, I heard a voice answer: `Where
He is? This is where - hanging here from this gallows...'"
This account is a turning
point for Wiesel. In his thoughts at that time, God is dead. Yet, as a Christian, I sense something
deeper in this story. In the midst of human suffering and evil, I too look to an Innocent One dying
an excruciating death. And when considering the depth of human evil and the love of a good God, I
too ask, "Where is God?" and then see the form of a cross. "He is here, hanging on this tree..."
Customer Rating: Summary: Elie, a brave boy and a survivor
Comment: Night is a book that truly makes you think and feel. What happened to the Jewish people is
devastatingly awful.My mom homeschools my siblings and they chose to listen to Night on audio tape.
Everyone was enraptured in Elie's story wanting to know what happened to him. I think everyone
should read Elie's story or hear it at some point in your life, because it makes you grateful for
your own life and because everyone should know what the Germans did to the Jews. That time in
history should never be forgotten.
Customer Rating: Summary: Night, a real tragedy, from a young boy.
Comment: I want to point out that George Guidall did a remarkable job narrating the book Night. I homeschool,
and chose to do Night as one of our books for this year. My kids were horrified with what one human
could do to another. It struck all of our hearts on a daily basis when we would turn on the next CD.
This book is a must read. The horrific injustice the Jewish people undertook will never be forgotten
and shouldn't be by anyone.
Customer Rating: Summary: A Horrific Account of the Nightmare of the Holocaust
Comment: This short book, which is largely autobiographical, reads like a nightmare. It will shake you, even
if you are fully aware of the evils of the Holocaust. This book should be required reading in high
school or college. In this book, mankind is forced to confront the issue of evil. This is a
philosophical concept but real-life evil of man against man. Only when we understand mankind's
capacity to commit Holocaust can we stand against it in the future. Thank you to Elie Wiesel for
the courage to tell these stories to the world in the hope that something like this will never
happen again.
