Reviews with content warning for Violence - Night

I couldn't sleep after finishing this book. It was a short but difficult read that left me awake until 4am. As a Jew, I grew up listening to stories from loved ones and other survivors who wanted to share their stories with their communities. I was a kid and they spared some of the more gruesome stories. This book, however, spared no detail. It was compact writing that wasn't overly decorated with prose; rather, it was to the point. Wiesel tells the story of a boy who has been through the worst of humanity- the Holocaust.

Wiesel is an elegant writer who explains the unexpected descent into the kingdom of night. The beginnings of his story mirrors some of the atrocities that Jewish people face now- the indifference, the demonization, and the fear. Throughout his experience, he comes face to face with death several times over until the desensitization took over. I was swept away by how he told of the primitive being he became and the shame he felt for it- but how else can one behave when violence and death replace every hope of humanity?

I feel this pain deep in my blood as my own family members were paraded from one concentration camp to another and I dread the thought that they went through a similar experience. Wiesel provides a personal story that is the story of so many others and I urge people of all backgrounds to read it and learn just how easy it is to be oblivious and ignorant in the face of evil.

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” -Elie Wiesel

Content Warnings