Elie Wiesel - Night FULL TEXT

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soup stains on his face, the only victim. The cauldrons were carried back to the kitchen. The SS were back at their posts in the watchtowers, behind their machine guns. Intermission was over. An hour later, we saw the Kommandos returning, in step as always. Happily, I caught sight of my father. "Several buildings were flattened," he said, "but the depot was not touched…" In the afternoon, we cheerfully went to clear the ruins. ONE WEEK LATER, as we returned from work, there, in the middle of the camp, in the Appelplatz, stood a black gallows. We learned that soup would be distributed only after roll call, which lasted longer than usual. The orders were given more harshly than on other days, and there were strange vibrations in the air. "Caps off!" the Lagerälteste suddenly shouted. Ten thousand caps came off at once. "Cover your heads!" Ten thousand caps were back on our heads, at lightning speed. The camp gate opened. An SS unit appeared and encircled us: one SS every three paces. The machine guns on the watchtowers were pointed toward the Appelplatz. "They're expecting trouble," whispered Juliek. Two SS were headed toward the solitary confinement cell. They came back, the condemned man between them. He was a young boy from Warsaw. An inmate with three years in concentration camps behind him. He was tall and strong, a giant compared to me. His back was to the gallows, his face turned toward his judge, the head of the camp. He was pale but seemed more solemn than 61
frightened. His manacled hands did not tremble. His eyes were coolly assessing the hundreds of SS guards, the thousands of prisoners surrounding him. The Lagerälteste began to read the verdict, emphasizing every word: "In the name of Reichsführer Himmler…prisoner number … stole during the air raid…according to the l a w … p r i s o n e r number…is condemned to death. Let this be a warning and an example to all prisoners." Nobody moved. I heard the pounding of my heart. The thousands of people who died daily in Auschwitz and Birkenau, in the crematoria, no longer troubled me. But this boy, leaning against his gallows, upset me deeply. "This ceremony, will it be over soon? I'm hungry…" whispered Juliek. At a sign of the Lagerälteste, the Lagerkapo stepped up to the condemned youth. He was assisted by two prisoners. In exchange for two bowls of soup. The Kapo wanted to blindfold the youth, but he refused. After what seemed like a long moment, the hangman put the rope around his neck. He was about to signal his aides to pull the chair from under the young man's feet when the latter shouted, in a strong and calm voice: "Long live liberty! My curse on Germany! My curse! My—" The executioner had completed his work. Like a sword, the order cut through the air: "Caps off!" Ten thousand prisoners paid their respects. "Cover your heads!" Then the entire camp, block after block, filed past the hanged 62
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Also by Elie Wiesel DAWN DAY (previ
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ELIE W I E S E L TRANSLATED FROM TH
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In memory of my parents and of my l
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why not for others more deserving t
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the wisdom of their elders understa
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"Well?" The SS had flown into a rag
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were alive when they were thrown in
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Foreword by François Mauriac FOREI
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man—this set of circumstances wou
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Almighty to whom my life had been b
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2
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One day I asked my father to find m
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AND THEN, one day all foreign Jews
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news: the daily bombings of Germany
Page 35 and 36: made no offensive remarks, and some
Page 37 and 38: small Jewish r e p u b l i c … A
Page 39 and 40: "There are rumors," my father said,
Page 41 and 42: By eight o'clock in the morning, we
Page 43 and 44: My father had accompanied the depor
Page 45 and 46: We finally arrived at our destinati
Page 47 and 48: and the wine and swallowed the food
Page 49 and 50: German Army. Anyone who still owns
Page 51 and 52: Our nerves had reached a breaking p
Page 53 and 54: strolling down the platform, asking
Page 55 and 56: Behind me, an old man fell to the g
Page 57 and 58: Tell him that I was a student? "Far
Page 59 and 60: mained of my strength in order to b
Page 61 and 62: Suddenly someone threw his arms aro
Page 63 and 64: "And now, stop moving!" There was n
Page 65 and 66: "EVERYBODY outside!" A dozen or so
Page 67 and 68: NO SOONER HAD WE CLIMBED into our b
Page 69 and 70: I knew nothing about them…Since 1
Page 71 and 72: "Mother is still a young woman," my
Page 73 and 74: most important thing is not to be a
Page 75 and 76: gerous. Only Idek, the Kapo, occasi
Page 77 and 78: "What are you going to do, sir?" "I
Page 79 and 80: "Idek, the Kapo…the young Jewish
Page 81 and 82: This went on for two weeks. It was
Page 83 and 84: "Ten…eleven!…" His voice was ca
Page 85: and, with open mouth, thrust his he
Page 89 and 90: The Oberkapo was arrested on the sp
Page 91 and 92: THE SUMMER was coming to an end. Th
Page 93 and 94: them from paradise. When You were d
Page 95 and 96: transferred me to another Kommando,
Page 97 and 98: Yes, we were ready. So were the SS
Page 99 and 100: "Let's have a moment of quiet. I ha
Page 101 and 102: quickly or not. I was afraid of fin
Page 103 and 104: We went off to work as usual, our b
Page 105 and 106: "Doctor?" "Yes?" "Will I be able to
Page 107 and 108: As for me, I was thinking not about
Page 109 and 110: TWO O'CLOCK in the afternoon. The s
Page 111 and 112: "Don't think, don't stop, run!" Nea
Page 113 and 114: a single bark. Houses with gaping w
Page 115 and 116: he lay down too, next to the corpse
Page 117 and 118: There was shouting outside, in the
Page 119 and 120: I thought he'd lost his mind. His v
Page 121 and 122: think that the Germans would run ou
Page 123 and 124: PRESSED TIGHTLY AGAINST one another
Page 125 and 126: WE RECEIVED no food. We lived on sn
Page 127 and 128: him. They jumped him. Others joined
Page 129 and 130: AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAMP, SS off
Page 131 and 132: The sirens began to wail. Alert. Th
Page 133 and 134: worldly, the face of a stranger. It
Page 135 and 136: THE FOLLOWING DAY, he complained th
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When I came down from my bunk after
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This was the end! Hitler was about
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perished? Do I have the right to ac
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Holy Land. Please understand my dee
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