Night

"I only know that without this testimony, my life as a writer — or my life, period — would not have become what it is: that of a witness who believes he has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human memory."

"Only those who experienced Auschwitz know what it was. Others will never know."

"Books no longer have the power they once did. Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow."

"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."

"The witness has forced himself to testify. For the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. He does not want his past to become their future."

"It is not always the events that have touched us personally that affect us the most."

"every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer…"

"The real answers, Eliezer, you will find only within yourself."

" “I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions.”"

"It all belonged to everyone since it no longer belonged to anyone."

"Our principle was to economize, to save for tomorrow. Tomorrow could be worse yet."

"“Are you crazy? We were told to stand. Do you want to get us all in trouble?”

 As if all the troubles in the world were not already upon us."

"Hell does not last forever…And now, here is a prayer, or rather a piece of advice: let there be camaraderie among you. We are all brothers and share the same fate. The same smoke hovers over all our heads. Help each other. That is the only way to survive."

"“You mustn't eat all at once. Tomorrow is another day…”"

"How we would have liked to believe that. We pretended, for what if one of us still did believe?"

"“For God's sake, where is God?”

And from within me, I heard a voice answer:

“Where He is? This is where — hanging here from this gallows…”"

"I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long."

"“I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.”"

"How much longer would our lives be lived from one “last night” to the next?"

"We were the masters of nature, the masters of the world. We had transcended everything — death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth."

"Our ship's passengers amused themselves by throwing coins to the “natives,” who dove to retrieve them. An elegant Parisian lady took great pleasure in this game. When I noticed two children desperately fighting in the water, one trying to strangle the other, I implored the lady:

“Please, don't throw any more coins!”

“Why not?” said she. “I like to give charity…”"

""Listen to me, kid. Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting yourself. In fact, you should be getting his rations…""

"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere."