This is the novel I started teaching in my English 30-2 class today. I had forgotten how hard this book is to read. It is a memoir of the horrible and incomprehensible experiences of Elie Wiesel. He was just 14 when the novel begins and by the time he became a young teen, Elie was struggling to survive the Nazi Concentration camps. After his release at the end of World War II, Elie took a ten year vow of silence about the Holocaust. Only after being convinced that his story needed to be told and his own belief that we can never forget what happened, did Elie write his story. It is hard to inspire the students to read and I am hoping that our journey through this novel will not only inspire them to read but, more importantly, take a look at how fortunate they are to be alive and healthy.
"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." Chapter 3, pg. 32
No comments:
Post a Comment