Preface and Begining

In the preface of Night, Wiesel is more or less crying out to be heard. He describes his story and why he wanted to tell it. He knew that he had to show the world the horrors that he endured so that the world would not undergo such horrors again. In the first chapter, a character parallels the post-war Wiesel himself: Moshe the Beadle. Moshe was once a mystic who taught Elie the truths of the Kabbalah. Then, all the foreign Jews were “expelled” from their town. Weeks later, Moshe returns, a shell of a man. He tells the story of how all the Jews on the train were forced to disembark and dig a mass grave. Then, they were all shot into the grave they just dug. He alone survived when he was left for dead after only being shot in the leg. When Moshe tells this story to the town, many refuse to believe him. They say that the war is almost over, that they have nothing to worry about, that Moshe is a crazy old mystic. He cries and yells in synagogues across Hungary, but no one heeds his warnings. Elie Wiesel is crying to not be like Moshe. He is yelling the horrors of his story so that the world may never again commit the crimes that he endured and witnessed. He is telling his story so that we may hear it and do something about it, unlike the townspeople whom Moshe warned.

The townspeople in Wiesel’s town oddly reflected the pre-war attitudes towards Germany. As Hitler rose to power in the nation, his fascist regime quickly assumed a severely aggressive foreign policy. Hitler took nation after nation in the name of “Germany”. However, soon even that façade was abandoned. It progressed into all out Reich-building aggression. The nations of Europe stood by and watched. Instead of opposing Hitler at first offense, they appeased him in the hopes of avoiding a war. The damage of World War I still lingered heavy in the minds of Europe, and leading powers were still willing to make appeasements than go to war. Eventually, the world was forced to go to war – a war far more devastating than if it had been declared when Germany had conquered less. Similarly, the people in Wiesel’s town remained content to stay and wait out the war in their town even when anti-Jewish policies began. They did not want to leave their homes or their lives for what they considered “theories” or “stories.” However, because they did not sacrifice their homes and careers, they were forced to endure the absolute horror that the concentration camps entailed.