“Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.” 

Elie Weisel was taken with his father to a concentration camp when he was 15. His father was a leader in their village and even though they had some warnings in the two years leading up to their capture, they couldn’t believe it would happen to them. At first, they couldn’t leave their village. Then people were sent away on trains. Then they were moved to the ghetto in their village. And, then, they were taken away.

Night is a powerful memoir of a boy who faced the horrors of a concentration camp when he wanted to be studying Jewish Scripture. I read Night many years ago, but my oldest daughter was reading it for class, so I read it, too, so we could talk about it. Some of the images in the book were hard for her to read, as they are for all of us. However, history has to be known.

As Elie and his father fight for survival and fight to stay near each other, they react differently to keeping their faith. While his father could still pray, Elie lost faith in a God that could have them experience such things. They faced a long march before the Allies finally defeated the Germans and Elie found freedom.

Night is a must-read for every adult. It is appropriate for high school age students, too. It is well-written and is a truthful experience shared for the world. I keep a copy on my bookshelf and will make sure all my children read it at some point, along with The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.

The second book in the Night Trilogy is Dawn. In Dawn, Elisha is a freedom fighter in Palestine ordered to be an executioner in the morning. He has survived a concentration camp only to have no family. Convinced to join the fight for a Jewish homeland, he makes a new home in Palestine as a young man. He spends the night contemplating his situation and how he will now be the cause of another’s death. This fiction story deals with the dilemma humans have when asked to kill for a cause, no matter what side you are on.

Have you read any of The Night Trilogy? Share your thoughts on the blog!

Buy Night here (affiliate link).
Buy Dawn here (affiliate link).