Night Father Quotes

Elle’s relationship with his father is one of the ongoing themes in the book Night. Their relationship is a mutually supportive relationship that ebbs and flows throughout their experiences in the concentration camps. The journey leads to a young man whose guilt and sadness compels him to complete the Holocaust story not only for himself but also for his father.
Prior to their imprisonment, Elle is a devout Orthodox Jewish boy who studies Jewish teachings and wants to study the Cabbala, of which his father tells him he is too young. His father Shlomo, is a cultured, unsentimental man, who rarely expresses emotion with his family. At this point Elle and his father’s relationship is based solely on respect. As an esteemed leader in their Jewish …show more content…
Elle tries to convince him to move, but he insists on being allowed to rest. Elle leaves his father and he himself falls asleep, in the morning he looks for his father, but part of him thinks that he will be better off if he just abandons his father altogether. He surprisingly finds his father who is very sick at this point and unable to move. Elle brings him some soup and coffee – this brings more guilt to Elle as he thinks he should save the food for himself. It’s determined that his father has dysentery and is basically left in the hospital bed to die. He is not treated by the doctors and severely beaten by the SS patrol. They tell Elle that he should just concentrate on his own survival. On January 29,1945 Elle wakes to find that his father has been taken to the crematory – Elle does not cry he only feels relief. Elle recounts the last moments of his father’s life; “Then my father made a ratline noise and it was my name: ‘Eliezer…’ I did not move…His last word was my name. a summons, to which I did not respond…I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might perhaps have found something like – free at last” …show more content…
It was difficult for me to read this book and envision what Elie went through without becoming angry. Anger that this could happen to a whole geographical group of people. The injustice and dehumanizing disposal of life sickens me. But for me it was a bit more personal. I am of Polish descent and the birthplace of many of my relatives around Kradow was permanently stained by this heinous atrocity. From listening to stories told to me from older family members, I realize that many people are not aware that millions of victims of the Holocaust were not Jewish. Outside the Polish community, very little is mentioned about the five million non-Jewish victims — usually referred to as “the others”. In no way do I want to diminish the enormous magnitude of the victimization and murder of the 5,860,000 Jewish people during the Holocaust. The Jews were singled out by the Nazis for total extermination — a significant fact that I do not disclaim, nor want to diminish in any way. But what about the others? Eleven million precious lives were lost during the Holocaust of World War II. Six million of these were Polish citizens. Half of these Polish citizens were non-Jews- 100,000 of which died at Auschwitz as well. While there is no argument that Hitler hated the Jews but he also hated the Poles and those who were not part of the Aryan race, and caused almost six million to be ruthlessly killed, often non-Jewish victims are tragically forgotten

Show More

Night By Elie Wiesel Quote Analysis

Essay On Night By Elie Wiesel

Literary Devices Used In Night By Elie Wiesel

Family Theme In Night By Elie Wiesel

Night Reflection Essay

Night By Elie Wiesel: Character Analysis

Survival In Elie Wiesel's Night

Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees

Father Son Relationship In Night

Commentary On Night By Elie Wiesel