Student Question

Describe the scene of leaving the ghetto in Night by Elie Wiesel.

Quick answer:

In Elie Wiesel's Night, the Jews of Sighet were expelled on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. They first gathered at the vandalized synagogue, spending a cramped, uncomfortable night there. The following day, they were marched to the train station and packed into cattle cars, 80 per car, with minimal provisions. Guarded by Hungarian police, the train journey was marked by fear and deprivation until they arrived at Auschwitz, where they encountered flames and the smell of burning flesh.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

In Night by Elie Wiesel, the Jewish people of the town Sighet in Transylvania were forced to leave the ghetto they had been forced into earlier when the Nazis took over the town. They left on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as the sun was coming up. The people gathered in the streets, ready to go. The local Jewish Council had made a deal with the Hungarian police that the Jews would organize their own departure. 

The townspeople went to their main synagogue, the Jewish place of worship, which had been vandalized and desecrated by the Nazis. They stayed there all day and night, crowded together.

"There were so many of us that we could scarcely breathe. We spent a horrible twenty-four hours there. There were men downstairs; women on the first floor. It was Saturday; it was as though we had come to attend the service. Since no one...

Unlock
This Answer Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

could go out, people were relieving themselves in a corner" (Wiesel 20).

The next morning the Jewish people of Sighet walked to the train station. They were forced into cattle cars--80 people to a car and given some bread and pails of water. They were warned that if anyone tried to escape, he/she would be shot.

"Two Gestapo officers strolled about on the platform, smiling: all things considered, everything had gone off very well.

A prolonged whistle split the air. The wheels began to grind. We were on our way" (Wiesel 20).

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

In Night by Elie Wiesel, describe the ghetto evacuation and the journey to Auschwitz.

In Night by Elie Wiesel, when the Jews were expelled from Sighet, they were first marched to the main synagogue. This happened on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. At the synagogue, they found the bimah (altar) broken and the building vandalized. The Jewish people spent twenty-four hours there, so crowded together, breathing was difficult for them. The men and women were separated, and there were no bathrooms for them to use, so they were forced to use the corners of the room to relieve themselves.  

The following day, the Jewish people were marched to the train station and forced to load into cattle cars. Eighty people were pushed into each car and given a little bread and some buckets of water. The Hungarian police orchestrated all of this, and one person in each car was put in charge and told, "...if anyone escaped, he would be shot" (Wiesel 20). 

The train cars were crowded, so the people took turns sitting down. They never ate enough to feel satisfied because they didn't know how long the journey would take and feared running out of food. One woman in the same car as Elie Wiesel began to cry out about seeing a fire, and as she became more and more hysterical, the others yelled at her and hit her. Once they reached Auschwitz though, they saw the fires, too. There, the Jews were greeted by truncheons and torches.

"In front of us flames. In the air that smell of burning flesh. It must have been about midnight. We had arrived--at Birkenau, reception center for Auschwitz" (Wiesel 26).

Approved by eNotes Editorial