"Studium discendi voluntate quae cogi non potest constat" - Marcus Fabius Quintilianus

In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died.

Chapter 1 Questions:

1. What steps did the Germans take to limit the Jews’ freedom and to deport them to concentration camps?

  1. 2. Why did the people refuse to believe Moshe’s story? Have you or someone you know, ever reacted with disbelief to tragic news? Explain the situation and the reason for your reaction.
  2. 3. What would you put in a small day pack if your were told you have to leave your home immediately with no hope of return? Explain why.
  3. 4. What would you miss most about your present living environment if you were transported to another country? Do you take your community and family for granted? Explain.