Night by Elie Wiesel: A Poem

I was reading chapter three of the book Night by Elie Wiesel when I was struck with emotion. The chapter depicted the author's entrance into a concentration camp during World War Two. The way the author described what he witnessed and experienced was very powerful, and almost poetic.

I've gathered a collection of the most powerful quotes from the chapter, and have done my best to string them together. The following are completely the author's words, with the exception of the underlined text. This was added to help the reader understand the context.

Many would rather not think about this topic, but in my opinion, it's something that has to be remembered. Horrors like the following did not end with World War Two, but can still be found today.

Night:

Men to the left! Woman to the right!

Eight words spoken quietly. Indifferently, without emotion

I was parting from my mother forever

"Do you see those flames? Over there?

That's where you're going to be taken

That's your grave over there. Have you realized it yet?"

-

The older one's begged us not to fight back

"You must never lose faith, even as the sword hangs over your head"

For the moment I was happy; I was near my father

A prisoner came up to us: "Poor devils," he said, "You're going to the crematory"

-

Not far from us, flames were leaping from a ditch

They were burning something...little children. Babies!

Yes, I saw it - saw it with my own eyes... those children in the flames

Sleep had fled from my eyes

How could it be possible for them to burn people, babies,

And for the world to keep silent?

-

I pinched my face, was I alive?

Was I awake?

I looked to my dad

I told him I did not believe they could burn people in our day in age,

Humanity would never tolerate it.

He looked at me, his voice was choking

"Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us.

Today, anything is allowed."

-

I bade farewell to my father,

To the whole universe.

The moment had come.

I was face to face with the angel of death

No. Two steps from the pit we were ordered to turn left

We would live, for today.

-

Never shall I forget that night.

The first night in camp.

Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence,

That deprived me, for all eternity, of my desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments

That 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.

-

The following day we were stripped, we were shaved

They shaved all the hair on our bodies

The night was gone. I had become a totally different person

The child that I was, had been consumed in the flames

-

An SS officer had arrived

"You're in a concentration camp. At Auschwitz."

He observed the effect his words produced

Was there a single place here where we were not in danger of death?

I would not give up hope.

"God is testing us," I was told, "We have no right to despair.

And if he punishes us relentlessly, it's a sign that he loves us All the more."