Night Questions (Chapter 5-7)
Section 5-7 Night Questions
Brian Chen
Period 5
Chapter 5.
1. All the inmates gathered at the barbed fence of the concentration camp and together they prayed of the greatness of God.
2. In the beginning of the book Elie was a strong believer who wanted to fully understand and follow God and he had a strong faith in God’s justice and fairness. However after he was moves to the concentration camp he saw the death of so many innocent people, children, babies, the elderly, and the weak. They were all massacred and god didn’t do anything about it. Instead he kept these crematoriums working all year round killing loved ones. As this continues and Elie saw more injustice, he starts to question himself whether he believes in God anymore and where is God. He slowly loses faith in God and his religion and starts to face reality, yet he still has a small spark of belief left in him.
3. Elie did not fast on Yom Kippur because first of all his dad told him not to, secondly he has lost his faith, why should he pray about a nonexistent being ‘s kindness when he’s allowing all these tragedies and sorrows to occur, lastly he’s just too tired to do so.
4. The beauty present the SS gave the prisoners was selection, a process where the SS chose the unfit or weak to die.
5. The bells showed when they can meet their relatives and when they had to go back to work, it was a constant pain to Elie to hear the bells because it reminds him that he’s still oppressed by the Germans and that the bell is what dictates his life.
6. As an inheritance from his dad Elie receives a knife and spoon. However Elie returns that inheritance to his dad to remind him that Elie was still there and that he believes that his dad needs it more that he does.
7. Akiba Drumer was selected because he has lost total faith in everything, in his religion, god, humanity, but most of all himself. So he didn’t even try at selection he just wants to get out of this living hell. He asked the men to say Kaddish for him but they forgot.
8. Elie goes into the hospital for an operation on his foot, which he hurt while at work. There recovering he meet’s an inmate who tells him that he has more faith in Hitler that anyone else because Hitler always keeps his promises to the Jewish people. He promised to exterminate them, and here they are thousands of Jews being rounded up and killed.
9. Elie and his father evacuate with the rest of the camp to get farther away from the impeding Russians, however it was not the right choice because if they had stayed they would have been liberated by the Russians.
10. The blockalteste ordered the men to clean and tidy the barracks to make it seem as if the Germans treated the Jewish people like actually humans not animals.
Chapter6-7
1. The evacuation looked like a crowd of clowns with heavy garments running in the snow. At that point elie was tired to the point where he believes that he can die right there and there. Instead he persuades himself not to because he sees his resilient father even though he’s is hurting his father his suffering the most yet he pushes on. Elie understand that his dad needs him so keeps on living.
2. On page 90-91 Elie discusses the relationship between Rabbi Eliahu and his son. Elie realizes that Rabbi Eliahu’s son purposefully leaves his weak father to escape from him and caring for him.
3. At Gleiwitz, Elie finds Juiek, the kid who worked with him at Buna, he played the violin. They are overjoyed to see each other but were quickly diminished when they get crushed by the more incoming people. While everyone else rested Juliek played a concerto of Beethoven, a concert for the dead. The next morning Elie finds Juliek killed and his violin crushed.
4. The traveling conditions are horrid and cramped with no food or water and 100 men per cart, and the men slowly tuned into animals killing loved one’s and others for a morsel of bread, it was a terrifying and surreal ride. The car started with 100 men but only 12 came off at Buchenwald.
5. Meir Katz was an inmate who worked the gardens at Buna and was a friend of Elie’s dad. He helped Elie in many ways he first gives vegetable to Elie and his dad back at Buna and he also saves Elie’s life from an assailant who tried to choke Elie.
Brian Chen
Period 5
Chapter 5.
1. All the inmates gathered at the barbed fence of the concentration camp and together they prayed of the greatness of God.
2. In the beginning of the book Elie was a strong believer who wanted to fully understand and follow God and he had a strong faith in God’s justice and fairness. However after he was moves to the concentration camp he saw the death of so many innocent people, children, babies, the elderly, and the weak. They were all massacred and god didn’t do anything about it. Instead he kept these crematoriums working all year round killing loved ones. As this continues and Elie saw more injustice, he starts to question himself whether he believes in God anymore and where is God. He slowly loses faith in God and his religion and starts to face reality, yet he still has a small spark of belief left in him.
3. Elie did not fast on Yom Kippur because first of all his dad told him not to, secondly he has lost his faith, why should he pray about a nonexistent being ‘s kindness when he’s allowing all these tragedies and sorrows to occur, lastly he’s just too tired to do so.
4. The beauty present the SS gave the prisoners was selection, a process where the SS chose the unfit or weak to die.
5. The bells showed when they can meet their relatives and when they had to go back to work, it was a constant pain to Elie to hear the bells because it reminds him that he’s still oppressed by the Germans and that the bell is what dictates his life.
6. As an inheritance from his dad Elie receives a knife and spoon. However Elie returns that inheritance to his dad to remind him that Elie was still there and that he believes that his dad needs it more that he does.
7. Akiba Drumer was selected because he has lost total faith in everything, in his religion, god, humanity, but most of all himself. So he didn’t even try at selection he just wants to get out of this living hell. He asked the men to say Kaddish for him but they forgot.
8. Elie goes into the hospital for an operation on his foot, which he hurt while at work. There recovering he meet’s an inmate who tells him that he has more faith in Hitler that anyone else because Hitler always keeps his promises to the Jewish people. He promised to exterminate them, and here they are thousands of Jews being rounded up and killed.
9. Elie and his father evacuate with the rest of the camp to get farther away from the impeding Russians, however it was not the right choice because if they had stayed they would have been liberated by the Russians.
10. The blockalteste ordered the men to clean and tidy the barracks to make it seem as if the Germans treated the Jewish people like actually humans not animals.
Chapter6-7
1. The evacuation looked like a crowd of clowns with heavy garments running in the snow. At that point elie was tired to the point where he believes that he can die right there and there. Instead he persuades himself not to because he sees his resilient father even though he’s is hurting his father his suffering the most yet he pushes on. Elie understand that his dad needs him so keeps on living.
2. On page 90-91 Elie discusses the relationship between Rabbi Eliahu and his son. Elie realizes that Rabbi Eliahu’s son purposefully leaves his weak father to escape from him and caring for him.
3. At Gleiwitz, Elie finds Juiek, the kid who worked with him at Buna, he played the violin. They are overjoyed to see each other but were quickly diminished when they get crushed by the more incoming people. While everyone else rested Juliek played a concerto of Beethoven, a concert for the dead. The next morning Elie finds Juliek killed and his violin crushed.
4. The traveling conditions are horrid and cramped with no food or water and 100 men per cart, and the men slowly tuned into animals killing loved one’s and others for a morsel of bread, it was a terrifying and surreal ride. The car started with 100 men but only 12 came off at Buchenwald.
5. Meir Katz was an inmate who worked the gardens at Buna and was a friend of Elie’s dad. He helped Elie in many ways he first gives vegetable to Elie and his dad back at Buna and he also saves Elie’s life from an assailant who tried to choke Elie.
Night Response Sheet
Night Response Sheet
Night Response Journal
Brian Chen
Period 5
40.
Dear Akiba,
My friend it’s me Brian, your apprentice from Romania before we got moved to this death camp. Lately I’ve heard from people in your kommando that you have given up all hope and opened your hands to death. My friend it pains me greatly to see you in such state. Why did you give up faith? It is because the work is hard? Is it that you have no control over your life and you can be killed with a snap of one of those demons fingers? I understand my friend I myself have witnessed these as well and death is everywhere. You can’t turn a corner without seeing a dead body. Great God why do you let them die? I myself have thought of more than once to just lie down and die so I may be with my family again ,but every time I do that I remind myself why am I here? Then I tell myself look around, there’s all these other people who are suffering more than you, do you just give up this easily is this how God would have wanted his people to be? This is just a test by God, Akiba. We must live to tell the tales of those who have passed in this wretched place. Are you going to break down so easily, this is what the Germans want to happen? They want you to give up hope and accept your fate. Akiba I know you’re stronger than this, don’t you remember the headstrong Akiba that challenged all the rules? Are you going to let this one break you down? No you must defy against the Germans, they are mere humans they are not the Gods of death. I know that the times are harsh but you just don’t give up when there is a bump in the road. You push through into a more glorious future. Remember how we used to pray together. You are one of the most religious people I know and you lose faith so easily. Akiba wipe your eyes and see true through this smoke and misery. God will guide us through this difficult time. Believe in faith Akiba believe in something, something that ensures that you still have hope. Don’t give up your will to live, the will to reach your highest potential, the will to exist. Remember what I said.
Your friend Brian
41. Long before WW2 started there has been a great deal of anti Semitism against the Jewish population in Germany. The 3rd Reich established multiple rules that prejudice against the Jewish. Here are just a few of them. The first one was in 1933 called the Law of the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. This rule stated that all Jewish and other members of the German population deemed publically unreliable civil servants or employees were refused the right to participate in state services such as voting. The second was in April 1933 and it limited the number of Jewish students in German Universities and schools. The 3rd law was that Jewish doctors were refused funds from the German state and did not receive and funds from the government. The next law forbade Jewish doctors to treat non Jewish patients. The next law of injustice was that the Nazi government enforced a 1.5 percent admission quota for non-German (Aryan) students. The next law was put in place in 1935 and it forbade Jewish or German- Jewish people to gain citizenship. The following law stated that Jewish people shall not marry or have a relationship with a German. Jewish were also not allowed to vote or hold public office. The next wave of laws states that Jewish officers were expelled from the army and that Jewish medical students couldn’t take a doctoral exam. Lastly in 1933-1938 Jewish people had to file their earning and property to be slowly taken away from them. Also during that same period of time Jewish managers and workers were fired and businesses were sold to Germans at a below market price. That is just some of the Anti-Semitism laws directed against the Jewish.
45. During a short break when Eliezer, his father and the other Jews were sent on a forced march, Eliezers father began to doze off but Eliezer quickly woke up his father and just as he did that his father woke up with a start and smile at Eliezer. That left Eliezer wondering where in the world did his dad get that kind of opportunistic feeling to smile. I believe the reason the dad smile was because these prisoners have been running miles nonstop with no food water or any kind of rest but if they stop they may be trampled shot, or even worse be left to die. Even worse the living knew that if they tried to sleep they would die. That is why when Elie’s dad was sleeping he was woken up by his son an he’s relieved by the fact that he’s still alive and that he can see the sun another day but most importantly the only things that mattered to him that reminded him of the good old days, the beacon of hope for him; his son is still alive and still remembers him. That is why Eliezers dad managed to smile in such a desperate situation because the thing he cared about is still there with him.
46. The son may have abandoned his dad because he was embarrassed by the fact that his dad runs so slowly. It also may be that he’s jealous of his dad for being so upbeat and being able to encourage people while he is miserable and suffering. He can also be fed up with having to take care of his father and feels all this anger and frustration building up inside of him with no way to go other then out so he left his father’s side. Lastly it may be that he may no longer care for his father because he’s now an old man and about to die soon also he wants’ to conserve his strength by not helping his dad. He may just been brainwashed by all these terrible events and doesn’t “recognize” his father anymore. Personally the son is justified for his actions. Humanly thinking everyone one of us would have done this if we’re desperate enough, pressure, fear, dread, lose of faith and identity can do that to someone. It can even drive people to kill each other for bread. As a result the son’s action is justified. If I was Eliezer I would tell him I saw him because I don’t want this to turn out to be another Stein case and have the Rabbi find out his son had left and take all the pain of being lied to and having his son leaving and dying from it.
53. On pages 104 through 112 I believe the event that affected me the most was how Elie’s dad laid in the snow and told him that this was his end. For a son it’s very difficult to imagine me kneeling over my dad and him telling me that this was his end and that he just wanted to rest. Being an obedient child I would let him rest ,but knowing that he’ll die in the cold I would not let him, but the most effective part of this passage for me was how Elie’s dad talks about how the dead are just sleeping. This shocked me greatly because Elie’s dad being a town councilman should be more logical and headstrong than the others yet he insists these people are just resting and they will wake up later. The scene painted an image in my head. The picture painted a very disturbing image of rows and rows of hills of bones that blended into the white snow and Elie’s dad lying on the ground trying to reach for Elie’s hand. The scene much like Michelagoes “Creation of Adam” where Adam is trying to touch God’s hand and is a tiny bit away. This also shows how Elie wants’ to rescue his dad but can’t. Once again being a son it’s hard to imagine what’s going through Elie’s mind and what it is like a lose your dad so this scene affected me the most.
47.
Eliezer: Why, why. I thought we Jews respected each other and looked out for each other not abandon other Jews especially ones father
Rabbi’s son: Look you don’t understand your too young.
Eliezer: I understand, I may not have a year ago but over the past year the things I’ve saw and done made me into a man.
Rabbi’s son: Then you know work is hard and the times are rough and with so little food it’s hard to survive.
Eliezer: That’s still not a reason for leaving your dad. We prosper together and suffer together. But you greedy selfish boy doesn’t care for other’s even for your own father. Even I’m more mature then you you know that your dad survived and is still searching for you?
Rabbi’s son: I’m not greedy or selfish, you don’t understand, you know how much energy it takes out of you to take care of an old man and with so little food it’s not enough! It’s even worse when the old man is slowing you down and increasing your chances of meeting the crematorium, and always complaining me to slow down or wait for him!!!
Elie: That’s still not a reason to leave kin and blood to die like this.
Rabbi’s son: I know I’ve done some pretty bad things but this is not one of them it’s for the better good. Some people must die so others may live.
55. A king among men, a blanket for the weak, but a leaf in the winter. My dad has always been a role model to me as a father and a friend. He was more than a dad he was the man I could rely, the man I trusted, the man who happened to be my father. He was a leader in the community who was passionate for everyone in or out of his life and brought leadership to a torn group. His sense of balance and inner strength made him a natural leader. Yet he cared for every member of the community rich or poor as if they were part of his family. Even though his death was a long and painful one his memory would be remembered by all those that shared his never-ending blanket of love. I believe I say on behalf of everyone who has ever met him. He was a person one might wonder if they were an apprentice of God sent down to comfort them from their sorrows. A man of great wisdom, knowledge, and vitality my dad will be much missed by both the community and I.
56. For me I’m ironically deathly afraid of death. Death is like reaching the end of the line, the point of no return. The last stop on the train. Nothiness.What I fear most about death is that when I turn into an old man and I go into the hospital from a heart attack and I have all these pipes in me and I hear the sounds of death resonating around me and I hear the doctors calling my relatives and telling them that I might die and having them rush around me and say there last words frantically and be sorry for whatever they did, that just overwhelms me I’d rather have them be noticed after I die so I won’t have to take all that pressure. It also angers me how when I’m about to die I worry about all these things I’ve never worried about before such as I forgot to say sorry to that guy I tripped this morning, or who’ll comfort my children when my wife dies or who would be that grandpa figure for my grandkids and who’ll give advice. Lastly I fear the moment when I truly meet death in the face and I freak out and I start not wanting to die then all of a sudden my eyesight gets blurry and everything does black. Some guy’s may say that they don’t fear death but when you truly face death I believe you don’t want to see it again.
Night Response Journal
Brian Chen
Period 5
40.
Dear Akiba,
My friend it’s me Brian, your apprentice from Romania before we got moved to this death camp. Lately I’ve heard from people in your kommando that you have given up all hope and opened your hands to death. My friend it pains me greatly to see you in such state. Why did you give up faith? It is because the work is hard? Is it that you have no control over your life and you can be killed with a snap of one of those demons fingers? I understand my friend I myself have witnessed these as well and death is everywhere. You can’t turn a corner without seeing a dead body. Great God why do you let them die? I myself have thought of more than once to just lie down and die so I may be with my family again ,but every time I do that I remind myself why am I here? Then I tell myself look around, there’s all these other people who are suffering more than you, do you just give up this easily is this how God would have wanted his people to be? This is just a test by God, Akiba. We must live to tell the tales of those who have passed in this wretched place. Are you going to break down so easily, this is what the Germans want to happen? They want you to give up hope and accept your fate. Akiba I know you’re stronger than this, don’t you remember the headstrong Akiba that challenged all the rules? Are you going to let this one break you down? No you must defy against the Germans, they are mere humans they are not the Gods of death. I know that the times are harsh but you just don’t give up when there is a bump in the road. You push through into a more glorious future. Remember how we used to pray together. You are one of the most religious people I know and you lose faith so easily. Akiba wipe your eyes and see true through this smoke and misery. God will guide us through this difficult time. Believe in faith Akiba believe in something, something that ensures that you still have hope. Don’t give up your will to live, the will to reach your highest potential, the will to exist. Remember what I said.
Your friend Brian
41. Long before WW2 started there has been a great deal of anti Semitism against the Jewish population in Germany. The 3rd Reich established multiple rules that prejudice against the Jewish. Here are just a few of them. The first one was in 1933 called the Law of the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. This rule stated that all Jewish and other members of the German population deemed publically unreliable civil servants or employees were refused the right to participate in state services such as voting. The second was in April 1933 and it limited the number of Jewish students in German Universities and schools. The 3rd law was that Jewish doctors were refused funds from the German state and did not receive and funds from the government. The next law forbade Jewish doctors to treat non Jewish patients. The next law of injustice was that the Nazi government enforced a 1.5 percent admission quota for non-German (Aryan) students. The next law was put in place in 1935 and it forbade Jewish or German- Jewish people to gain citizenship. The following law stated that Jewish people shall not marry or have a relationship with a German. Jewish were also not allowed to vote or hold public office. The next wave of laws states that Jewish officers were expelled from the army and that Jewish medical students couldn’t take a doctoral exam. Lastly in 1933-1938 Jewish people had to file their earning and property to be slowly taken away from them. Also during that same period of time Jewish managers and workers were fired and businesses were sold to Germans at a below market price. That is just some of the Anti-Semitism laws directed against the Jewish.
45. During a short break when Eliezer, his father and the other Jews were sent on a forced march, Eliezers father began to doze off but Eliezer quickly woke up his father and just as he did that his father woke up with a start and smile at Eliezer. That left Eliezer wondering where in the world did his dad get that kind of opportunistic feeling to smile. I believe the reason the dad smile was because these prisoners have been running miles nonstop with no food water or any kind of rest but if they stop they may be trampled shot, or even worse be left to die. Even worse the living knew that if they tried to sleep they would die. That is why when Elie’s dad was sleeping he was woken up by his son an he’s relieved by the fact that he’s still alive and that he can see the sun another day but most importantly the only things that mattered to him that reminded him of the good old days, the beacon of hope for him; his son is still alive and still remembers him. That is why Eliezers dad managed to smile in such a desperate situation because the thing he cared about is still there with him.
46. The son may have abandoned his dad because he was embarrassed by the fact that his dad runs so slowly. It also may be that he’s jealous of his dad for being so upbeat and being able to encourage people while he is miserable and suffering. He can also be fed up with having to take care of his father and feels all this anger and frustration building up inside of him with no way to go other then out so he left his father’s side. Lastly it may be that he may no longer care for his father because he’s now an old man and about to die soon also he wants’ to conserve his strength by not helping his dad. He may just been brainwashed by all these terrible events and doesn’t “recognize” his father anymore. Personally the son is justified for his actions. Humanly thinking everyone one of us would have done this if we’re desperate enough, pressure, fear, dread, lose of faith and identity can do that to someone. It can even drive people to kill each other for bread. As a result the son’s action is justified. If I was Eliezer I would tell him I saw him because I don’t want this to turn out to be another Stein case and have the Rabbi find out his son had left and take all the pain of being lied to and having his son leaving and dying from it.
53. On pages 104 through 112 I believe the event that affected me the most was how Elie’s dad laid in the snow and told him that this was his end. For a son it’s very difficult to imagine me kneeling over my dad and him telling me that this was his end and that he just wanted to rest. Being an obedient child I would let him rest ,but knowing that he’ll die in the cold I would not let him, but the most effective part of this passage for me was how Elie’s dad talks about how the dead are just sleeping. This shocked me greatly because Elie’s dad being a town councilman should be more logical and headstrong than the others yet he insists these people are just resting and they will wake up later. The scene painted an image in my head. The picture painted a very disturbing image of rows and rows of hills of bones that blended into the white snow and Elie’s dad lying on the ground trying to reach for Elie’s hand. The scene much like Michelagoes “Creation of Adam” where Adam is trying to touch God’s hand and is a tiny bit away. This also shows how Elie wants’ to rescue his dad but can’t. Once again being a son it’s hard to imagine what’s going through Elie’s mind and what it is like a lose your dad so this scene affected me the most.
47.
Eliezer: Why, why. I thought we Jews respected each other and looked out for each other not abandon other Jews especially ones father
Rabbi’s son: Look you don’t understand your too young.
Eliezer: I understand, I may not have a year ago but over the past year the things I’ve saw and done made me into a man.
Rabbi’s son: Then you know work is hard and the times are rough and with so little food it’s hard to survive.
Eliezer: That’s still not a reason for leaving your dad. We prosper together and suffer together. But you greedy selfish boy doesn’t care for other’s even for your own father. Even I’m more mature then you you know that your dad survived and is still searching for you?
Rabbi’s son: I’m not greedy or selfish, you don’t understand, you know how much energy it takes out of you to take care of an old man and with so little food it’s not enough! It’s even worse when the old man is slowing you down and increasing your chances of meeting the crematorium, and always complaining me to slow down or wait for him!!!
Elie: That’s still not a reason to leave kin and blood to die like this.
Rabbi’s son: I know I’ve done some pretty bad things but this is not one of them it’s for the better good. Some people must die so others may live.
55. A king among men, a blanket for the weak, but a leaf in the winter. My dad has always been a role model to me as a father and a friend. He was more than a dad he was the man I could rely, the man I trusted, the man who happened to be my father. He was a leader in the community who was passionate for everyone in or out of his life and brought leadership to a torn group. His sense of balance and inner strength made him a natural leader. Yet he cared for every member of the community rich or poor as if they were part of his family. Even though his death was a long and painful one his memory would be remembered by all those that shared his never-ending blanket of love. I believe I say on behalf of everyone who has ever met him. He was a person one might wonder if they were an apprentice of God sent down to comfort them from their sorrows. A man of great wisdom, knowledge, and vitality my dad will be much missed by both the community and I.
56. For me I’m ironically deathly afraid of death. Death is like reaching the end of the line, the point of no return. The last stop on the train. Nothiness.What I fear most about death is that when I turn into an old man and I go into the hospital from a heart attack and I have all these pipes in me and I hear the sounds of death resonating around me and I hear the doctors calling my relatives and telling them that I might die and having them rush around me and say there last words frantically and be sorry for whatever they did, that just overwhelms me I’d rather have them be noticed after I die so I won’t have to take all that pressure. It also angers me how when I’m about to die I worry about all these things I’ve never worried about before such as I forgot to say sorry to that guy I tripped this morning, or who’ll comfort my children when my wife dies or who would be that grandpa figure for my grandkids and who’ll give advice. Lastly I fear the moment when I truly meet death in the face and I freak out and I start not wanting to die then all of a sudden my eyesight gets blurry and everything does black. Some guy’s may say that they don’t fear death but when you truly face death I believe you don’t want to see it again.