Faith and Loss in Elie Wiesel's Night: A Religious Study

Introduction

"When I think of religion at all, I feel as if I would like to found an order for those who cannot believe: the Confraternity of the Faithless, one might call it, where on an altar, on which no taper burned, a priest, in whose heart peace had no dwelling, might celebrate with unblessed bread and a chalice empty of wine. Everything to be true must become a religion. And agnosticism should have its ritual no less than faith." — Oscar Wilde (Critchley)

Night is a powerful, thought-provoking narration of unforgettable and horrific experiences that Elie Wiesel lived through during the final year of the Second World War. The story invites the reader to relive the life and death of prisoners in the concentration camps run by the Nazis. Growing up in Sighet, in the region then known as Transylvania, Elie was a deeply religious child. He was born on September 30, 1928, the only son of his father. As with many in his community, he pursued his religion with enthusiasm, devoting much of his time to studying religious texts and to prayer (Biography.com). He recounts his thoughts when forced to leave his home: "I looked at my house in which I had spent years seeking my God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later" (p. 19).

His town had experienced the expulsion of foreigners, one of whom had returned to warn the town's Jews of the horrors being carried out by the Nazis. His name was Moishe. Unfortunately, not being a person of great standing in the community, he was dismissed as a madman. Elie and his family were forced from their home when the Nazis began rounding up Jews from their country and the surrounding nations of Bulgaria and Hungary and deporting them to concentration camps in Poland. This, ironically, occurred toward the end of the Second World War. In 1944, just fifteen years old, the teenager's life was upended by the uprooting of his entire community, which would ultimately be headed for Auschwitz. The book describes unimaginable horrors: children burned alive, selections for the crematorium, starvation rations, nakedness, and bitter cold (Mongredien).

The Nazis transferred fifteen thousand Jews from Elie's village to Poland. He recounts how he was separated from his mother and sister upon arriving at Auschwitz, and the tragic fact that they were killed just a few hours later. After several months working as a slave laborer, staying close to his father throughout, he was transferred to Buchenwald as the Nazis were retreating near the war's end. He was still alive when the Allies reached Buchenwald, though his father had died shortly before from dysentery (Mongredien).

Wiesel's Religious Upbringing and the Purpose of Night

Elie Wiesel describes the first time he had the book published as a period when "the subject was considered morbid and interested no one" (Wiesel, Preface). It was a few years after the end of the Second World War, and the world seemed eager to set aside the painful events of the Holocaust. The Jews in the synagogues felt that "it was senseless to burden our children with the tragedies of the Jewish past" (Wiesel, Preface).

Yet it was precisely this attitude that Elie sought to challenge. He felt a duty to permanently record the events of the war and its horrors, so that future generations might prevent a similar tragedy from occurring. As he wrote: "Today, there are anti-Semites in Germany, France, and even the United States, who tell the world that the 'story' of six million assassinated Jews is nothing but a hoax, and many people, not knowing any better, may well believe them, if not today then tomorrow or the day after…" (Wiesel, n.p.). Wiesel was compelled to write Night, stating that his "duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living" (Wiesel).

Ignored Warnings and the Road to the Camps

Wiesel describes the repeated warnings that his friend Moishe gave the village about the Nazis, warnings that no one heeded (Lombardi). "Moishe was not the same. The joy in his eyes was gone. He spoke only of what he had seen. But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen" (Wiesel, p. 5).

One can feel the regret with which the author describes how the tragedy might have been avoided had the people of his village taken those warnings seriously. Opportunities arose to evade the camps, but the family never recognized them at the time. In one incident, he narrates how Maria, their former maid and a Hungarian non-Jew, came to see the family in their new ghetto before they left for Poland. She "begged" them to accompany her "to her village where she had prepared a shelter" (Wiesel, p. 20). The family did not go.

Conclusion

Wiesel has carefully written on the terrible horrors of the Holocaust. He draws the reader into an experience of life as a Jew under growing Nazi influence. He leads them into life in the camps, into death, and into the acceptance of it. He describes the deterioration of his faith from a strong belief in the Almighty to rebellion and a growing reliance on his own will to survive. It is an inspiring read from which the world can draw lessons and work to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring (Wiley).

Bibliography

Biography.com. n.d. Retrieved 5 November 2015 from: http://www.biography.com/people/elie-wiesel-9530714

CelesteK. Night by Elie Wiesel. n.d. Retrieved 5 November 2015 from: http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/275633/Night-by-Elie-Wiesel/

Critchley, Simon. "Oscar Wilde's Faithless Christianity." 15 January 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2015.

Lombardi, Esther. "Night Quotes — Elie Wiesel." n.d. Retrieved 5 November 2015 from:

Mongredien, Phil. "Night by Elie Wiesel." 20 December 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2015 from: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/dec/20/night-elie-wiesel

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Les Editions de Minuit, 1958.

Wiley, David. "Night Trilogy — Review." n.d. Retrieved 5 November 2015 from: