Night Quotations Chapter 1 pages 3-22

Transcription

1 Night Quotations Chapter 1 pages He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin. 5 Man asks and God replies. But we don t understand His replies. We cannot understand them. Because they dwell in the depths of our souls and remain there until we die. The real answers, Eliezer, you will find only within yourself. 7 He spoke only of what he had seen. But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things. Others flatly said that he had gone mad. 7 I no longer care to live. I am alone. But I wanted to come back to warn you. Only no one is listening to me 9 I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave. I am too old, my son, he answered. Too old to start a new life. Too old to start from scratch in some distant land 10 The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling. 12 The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion. 15 To the last moment, people clung to hope. 16 People must have thought there could be no greater torment in God s hell than that of being stranded here, on the sidewalk, among the bundles, in the middle of the street under a blazing sun. 19 The same hellish sun. The same thirst. Only there was no one left to bring us water. 19 That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell and death. 20 The ghetto was not guarded. One could enter and leave as one pleased. Maria, our former maid, came to see us. Sobbing, she begged us to come with her to her village where she had prepared a safe shelter. My father wouldn t hear of it. He told me and my big sisters, If you wish, go there. I shall stay here with your mother and the little one Naturally, we refused to be separated. 21 There no longer was any distinction between rich and poor, notables and the others; we were all people condemned to the same fate still unknown. 21 Saturday, the day of rest, was the day chosen for our expulsion.

2 Night Quotations Chapter 2 pages Tomorrow could be worse yet. 23 We realized then that we were not staying in Hungary. Our eyes opened. Too late. 24 There are eighty of you in the car, the German officer added. If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs. 25 Jews, listen to me, she cried. I see the fire! I see flames, huge flames! It was as though she were possessed by some evil spirit. 26 Look at the fire! Look at the flames! Flames everywhere Once again, the young men bound and gagged her. When they actually struck her, people shouted their approval: Keep her quiet! Make that madwoman shut up. She s not the only one here 28 Jews, look! Look at the fire! Look at the flames! And as the train stopped, this time we saw flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky. 28 In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. It must have been around midnight. We had arrived. In Birkenau.

3 Night Quotations Chapter 3 pages The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions. 29 Men to the left! Women to the right! 30 My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone. 30 Shut up, you moron, or I ll tear you to pieces! You should have hanged yourselves rather than come here. Didn t you know what was in store for you here in Auschwitz? You didn t know? In 1944? 31 The baton was moving constantly, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left. 32 The baton pointed to the left. I took half a step forward. I first wanted to see where they would send my father. Were he to have gone to the right, I would have run after him. 32 Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes children thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that every since then, sleep tends to elude me?) 32 How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? 33 What a shame, a shame that you did not go with your mother I saw many children your age go with their mothers His voice was terribly sad. I understood that he did not wish to see what they would do to me. He did not wish to see his only son go up in flames. 33 The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria 33 For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. 34 Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never. 35 Dozens of inmates were there to receive us, sticks in hand, striking anywhere anyone, without reason.

4 36 The instincts of self-preservation, of self-defense, of pride, had all deserted us. In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either. 37 The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded and devoured by a black flame. 38 Remember it always, let it be graven in your memories. You are in Auschwitz. 39 What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. 40 This one had an iron gate with the overhead inscription: ARBEIT MACHT FREI. Work makes you free. Auschwitz 42 We spoke of everything without ever mentioning those who had disappeared. The prevailing opinion was that the war was about to end. 45 As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice.

5 Night Quotations Chapter 4 pages I refused to give him my shoes. They were all I had left. I ll also give you a ration of bread with some margarine He liked my shoes; I would not let him have them. Later, they were taken from me anyway. In exchange for nothing, that time. 51 We decided that if we were allowed to live until the Liberation, we would not stay another day in Europe. 52 I felt no pity for him. In fact, I was pleased with what was happening to him: my gold crown was safe. It could be useful to me one day, to buy something, some bread or even time to live. At that moment in time, all that mattered to me was my daily bowl of soup, my crust of stale bread. The bread, the soup those were my entire life. I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach. The stomach alone was measuring time. 53 Bite your lips, little brother Don t cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for anther day, for later. The day will come but not now Wait. Clench your teeth and wait 54 I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. In fact, I thought of stealing away in order not to suffer the blows. What s more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father. Why couldn t he have avoided Idek s wrath? That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me 62 The thousands of people who died daily in Auschwitz and Birkenau, in the crematoria, no longer troubled me. But this boy, leaning against his gallows, upset me deeply. 62 He was about to signal his aides to pull the chair from under the young man s feet when the latter shouted, in a strong and calm voice: Long live Liberty! My curse on Germany! My curse! My The executioner had completed his work. 63 I remember that on that evening, the soup tasted better than ever (referring to after the hanging of the young man.) 65 For God s sake, where is God? And from within me, I heard a voice answer: Where He is? This is where hanging from these gallows.. That night, the soup tasted of corpses.