Wiesel's "Night"

The Holocaust is a topic which most people have at least a base understanding of. However, it was long enough ago that people really don't have a very good understanding of what it was actually like to be prosecuted in a way as extreme as the Jews were during this time. Nor do they understand what it was like to actually live within those conditions. "Night," by Elie Wiesel, provides readers with a gateway into those experiences. It is almost an ethereal and unreal experience just reading the book and seeing what kind of horrors were committed during this time. Even the characters in the book don't seem to believe what they are going through. This is especially evident when Eliezer's teacher, Mosha, returns to the town with his story of the Gestapo slaughtering everyone aboard his train. The idea is so absurd that even his own townspeople don't believe him. Shortly after, we are introduced to an even more horrifying scene where the Germans are throwing infants to their deaths in a furnace. All of the ideas presented within this book are almost too horrifying to imagine, and yet we must accept them to be true representations of what happens. It is easy to understand why someone would want to deny the possibility of something so terrible, and yet this book and many others like it provide proof to show us the true terrors that were committed. It provides readers with the chance to experience a moment in history which they otherwise would never have been able to.
In terms of approaching this book as a teacher, I can certainly see how this book may be of use in the classroom. It may not be for the faint of heart, but it is still a resource to further students' understanding of the Holocaust. It provides an opportunity for students' to develop both their skills in English as well as history.