Night by Elie Wiesel BG Info & Vocab

Prepare to read Night by Elie Wiesel

Compatriots

Fellow citizens or nationals of a country

Pestilential

Relating to or tending to cause infectious diseases

Premonition

A strong feeling something unpleasant is about to happen

Expound

Present and explain a theory or idea systematically and in detail

Phylacteries

Small leather boxes containing Hebrew texts worn by Jewish men at morning prayer

Emaciated

Abnormally thin or weak

Blandishments

Flattering statements or actions to persuade somebody

Leprous

Suffering from leprosy

Manacle

A metal band, chain, or shackle for fastening somebody's hands or ankles

Bestial

Like an animal or insanely cruel

Contagion

Catching a disease from somebody due to close contact

Embarkation

Boarding a ship or plane

Encumbrance

A burden or impediment

Interdeterminate

Not known for sure

Vigilance

The state of keeping watch for harm or possible danger

Sighet, Transylvania

Birthplace of Elie Wiesel

Judaism

An Abrahamic religion

Anti-semite

Somebody who hates and/or harms Jewish people

Yom Kippur

Day of Atonement, a time for repenting and fasting

Auschwitz

Largest and most notorious concentration camp

Gestapo

German Secret State Police, responsible for investigating crimes

Passover

Jewish festival celebrating the freedom of Israelites from Egyptian slavery

Buna

Industrial plant established on Auschwitz III to produce synthetic rubber and fuel

Nazis

Members of NSDAP who believed in Aryan supremacy

Hasidic Jewish

Religious movement that arose as a spiritual revival movement

Wannsee Conference

Conference of high-ranking German officers to plan destruction of European Jewish people

Holocaust

Systematic torture and murder of around 6 million European Jewish people and other 'undesirables'

Rosh Hashanah

Jewish New Year, a time for reflection and soul searching

The Allies

Nations fighting against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy

The Axis

Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and eventually Japan