Night by Elie Wiesel

     A twelve-year-old boy named Eliezer, also the narrator, lives in a Jewish town named Sighet. His parents own shops and are very strict in the jewish beliefs. Eliezer followed the Jewish teachings as his parents requested, but also had a fond liking for the "cabbala" which is book of mysticism not usually read by men his age. Although knowing that his father objected, Elie snuck out in search of Moche the Beadle (local pauper) to teach him of the cabbala. Moche was a beggar, the only one in all of their town that was not looked down upon; he was a very uplifting, kind man. One day, all of the foreign Jews were expelled from Sighet, and Moche happened to be one of them. At first, rumors spread and people were on edge with fear for themselves, but after months passed, many had even forgot that a change had occured. Moche returned one day, in a much more solemn mood than he had been in the past. He told stories of how the Gestapo had tortured, killed, threatened, and beat the captives and he had escaped by pretending to be dead when taken to the camps. No one seemed to belive Moche because he was the only one to return with any stories. Even Eliezer, his former student and friend, failed to belive the tails from the old man.
    Not too long after, the Fascists raid the town of Sighet and begin ruining the lives of the Jews. They took posessions, destroyed buildings, forces the Jews into wearing stars around their necks, and began to take them away. Elie's family was among some of the last to be taken away and was forced to watch all of the chaos that they had formerly not belived from Moche the Beadle. The family's servant, Martha offered them to stay with her in her village, yet they declined [ironic because she was a gentile, and the name Martha being very commonly known as the friend of Jesus that wanted to make preparations for the Lord, while her sister, Mary, refused for she wanted to sit and listen to him speak.] The family is then taken in a cattle car to Auschwitz.

    The interesting thing about reading this book is the reader knows the whole situation that occurs in the Holocaust. We know what the death camps are like and what toruture they were put through. The Jews of Sighet were very oblivious and naive when it came to believing Moche or even taking into consideration that anything could be wrong. The village was blind to the hatred going on around them and refused to believe that they were the next target. This theme seems very common in tragedy-type books; the reader knows what will happen, wishing to alert the characters of the danger ahead of them. Since the book is based off of a true story, it is also interesting to hear the voice from the survivor having to retell his experience during the era. He too was unaware and sheltered from the fate that was due him.