In what year does night begin?

Elie Wiesel is fifteen years old when he and his family are deported in May 1944 by the Hungarian gendarmerie and the German SS and police from Sighet to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister perish; his two older sisters survive.

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Eliezer's Timeline
What year is Night set in?
Where does Night by Elie Wiesel take place?
What time of year does Chapter 5 begin in Night?

1945

Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz on January 27. US troops liberate Buchenwald on April 11. Germany surrenders on May 7; World War II in Europe ends on May 8. On September 2, the Pacific War ends with the surrender of Japan after the US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. World War II is over. The United Nations is founded. Establishment of International Military Tribunal in August. On November 20, the trial of the top Nazi leaders begins in Nuremberg under the auspices of the International Military Tribunal. The Allies (France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union) indict 22 top-ranking Nazi leaders and six German and Nazi Party organizations for crimes against the peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

SS units evacuate Auschwitz in January. Elie and his father are transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar Germany. Elie's father dies in January; Elie is liberated with the arrival of US troops in April.

1946
Eighteen of 21 defendants are convicted by the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg Trial; 12 are sentenced to death.

1945–1949
177 Nazi offenders are tried under the jurisdiction of the International Military Tribunal in 12 subsequent Nuremberg trials of second rank Nazi leaders. Thousands more Nazi perpetrators and their collaborators are tried in the four zones of occupied Germany and in the countries that Germany and its Axis partners occupied.

1948
The State of Israel is created. On May 14, 1948, the last British forces withdraw from Palestine and the State of Israel is established in accordance with the United Nations Partition Plan that proposed the partition of Palestine into two states, an Arab state and a Jewish state.

The US Congress passes the Displaced Persons Act, authorizing 200,000 displaced persons to enter the United States.

On December 9, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust, the United Nations approves the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention establishes "genocide" as an international crime, which signatory nations "undertake to prevent and punish."

Foreshadowing Night does not operate like a novel, using foreshadowing to hint at surprises to come. The pall of tragedy hangs over the entire novel, however. Even as early as the work’s dedication, “In memory of my parents and my little sister, Tzipora,” Wiesel makes it evident that Eliezer will be the only significant character in the book who survives the war. As readers, we are not surprised by their inevitable deaths; instead, Wiesel’s narrative shocks and stuns us with the details of the cruelty that the prisoners experience.

WW2 officially started in September even though for the past 6 years Jews had been oppressed, excluded and segregated. Hitler has invaded Poland and the world realized he wasn't going to stop there, Auschwitz was founded in Poland the next year. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany September 3rd.

Period: Sep 1, 1939 to May 7, 1945

Eliezer's Timeline

Jul 31, 1941

The Final Solution

Hitler’s top commander Hermann Goering suggested the Endlösung or final solution for “The Jewish Question”. In the beginning of September 1941, every Jew in German-held land had to wear a yellow star to signify them as Jews. Many were deported to polish ghettos and cities Germany had taken over. In June 1941 experiments with creating methods for the mass murder of Jews had been ongoing in Auschwitz. That year in August the SS started gassing people with Zyklon-B.

Jan 5, 1942

Mass Gassing Begins at Auschwitz

Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed by gassing. Officers would use Zyklon-B to kill poeple. The prisoners were told they were taking a shower/being deloused and many died of this way.

Feb 5, 1942

Death Camps

Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau), Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibór began operating as death camps. It was estimated that around 1.1 million people died in Auschwitz. As truck loads of Jews came to these camps they were sorted and many were moved to be killed on spot. Dr. Mengele also known as "The Angel of Death" was one of the people at Auschwitz who detemined who was an actual asset to the camp. By the end of 1943 many death camps had closed while Auschwitz continued until the summer of 1944.

Mar 31, 1944

Lives in a Ghetto

Two ghettos were made in Sighet. Ghetto's were fenced in towns usually a couple of bllocks big where Jews were herded and kept in before they were deported. Fortunately Eliezer's family lived on one of the street's made into a ghetto so they were able to stay in their home. Eliezer and his family lived in this ghetto before being deported.

Apr 5, 1944

Deported to Birkenau

Bikenau was part of Auschwitz the biggest concentration/death camp the third part of Auschwitz was Monowitz. All of the belongings the Jews ad brought with them were discarded. Eliezer and his father were separated from his mom and sister, it was the last time he saw either of them. Eliezer and his father were safe from the first inspection.

May 15, 1944

Deported to Auschwitz

Prisoners are welcomed at Auschwitz with the sign "Arbeit Macht Frei" meaning "Work Makes You Free". Auschwitz was a three part concentration/death camp Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz. Unlike Birkenau the barracks in Auschwitz were made of cement instead of wood. Eliezer got his new "name" meaning number tattooed on his arm A-7713.

Jun 20, 1944

Deported to Buna

Buna was opened late October 1942. By the time Eliezer and his father arrived at Buna the camp was nearly deserted. Many of the Jews left in the camp had been deported before they arrived, few were still there. Eliezer's shoes were taken from him; they were the last thing he had left from his "old" life.

Jan 17, 1945

Deported to Buchenwald

Buchenwald was constructed in 1937 around 5 miles north-west from east-central Germany. After Buna Eliezer and his father were deported by train to Buchenwald. Many Jews were left in the trains dead or dying. Unfortunately while in the camp Eliezer's father died from being beat to death. In the end the SS fled and the resistance took over.

Apr 10, 1945

Liberated in Buchewald

Buchenwald had been running for eight years before being liberated. At six o'clock in the afternoon Buchenwald was liberated by the American Third Army. Three days after being liberated Eliezer fell ill and was transported to a hospital and spent two weeks in there before he got better.

May 7, 1945

End of Wordl War 2

When Germany surrendered WW2 finally came to an end. Hitler’s reign had come to an end and The Jews were finally freed from this persecution. In November the same year the war crime tribunal was held in Nuremberg, Germany.

What year is Night set in?

In the spring of 1944, the Nazis occupy Hungary. Not long afterward, a series of increasingly repressive measures are passed, and the Jews of Eliezer's town are forced into small ghettos within Sighet.

Where does Night by Elie Wiesel take place?

Night starts out in Sighet, Czechoslovakia, 1941, the beginning of World War II. Throughout the book, the author, Eliezer Wiesel is moved through several treacherous concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Buna. Most of the action takes place in these camps, as Elie struggles to survive.