Foreshadowing Events - Night

"Anguish. German soldiers - with their steel helmets and their death's-head emblem. Still, our first impressions of the Germans were rather reassuring. The officers were billeted in private homes, even in Jewish homes. Their attitude toward their hosts was distant but polite." (pg 9) "But new edicts were already being issued. We no longer had the right to frequent restaurants or cafes, to travel by rail, to attend synagogue, to be on the streets after six o'clock in the evening. Then came the ghettos." (pg 11) "The next morning, we walked toward the station, where a convoy of cattle cars was waiting. The Hungarian police made us climb into the cars, eighty persons in each one. They handed us some bread, a few pails of water. They checked the bars on the windows to make sure they would not come loose. The cars were sealed. One person was placed in charge of every car: as if someone managed to escape, that person would be shot. Two Gestapo officers strolled down the length of the platform. They were all smiles, all things considered, it had gone very smoothly. A prolonged whistle pierced the air. The wheels began to grind. We were on our way." (pg 22)
The Class List
Jews were expelled from Sighet.
Moishe the Beadle - After he was expleed, he was shot in the leg and left for dead. However, he escaped and warned the Jews when he treturned home.
Gestapo/Hungarian Police enter Sighet.
Ghettos were established
All Jew were lined up ready for transport
Rights taken away from Jews - all valuables removed
When Moishe was taken away someone stated, "What do you expect, that's war"
Family member knocking on the window
Refrences to Night pgs 12, 18, 21

Mrs. Schächter - Night

Mrs. Schächter is the women in the carts who sees fire. Her role in this story is basically what happened to the people who lost their families. She, among many, got separated from her one of her children and husband by mistake. This was one of the reasons why she became so depressed and probably why she started hallucinating. I think the fire symbolizes the death chambers the characters are about to meet and all the hate and chaos that occur ed in this time. The fire also symbolizes the power that these Nazi's had. She was another warning everyone silenced. References to night: pgs 24, 26, 27 Good quote: "It was as though madness had infected all of us." Class List:
Crematoriums = death
Fear
Burned bodies, lifestyles, faith, memories
Destruction
Power of Nazis

Brief Love - Night

Some of the things that bother me about this poem is the words that they use in the setting. Their choice of words are very frank and it kind of blows me away at how they found love in the most horrible of places. Also, the way they describe certain moments, for example, how they pee infront of each other. Of course, they didnt have much choice in this but finding love in this circumstance is very awkward.
I wonder how someone could come up with an idea of love while going on a blind march to their death bed. It's very sad and frustrating trying to cope through all this when you had a chance at love.
With this poem and along with the other Holocaust materials we have studied up until this point, some connections that can be made are the things that people went through that made then lose their minds. This poem was very powerful and straight forward by the way that it mixes an emotion of love and caring with a sudden burst of hate and screaming to get out of the carts.