{"id":702,"date":"2017-06-11T20:38:26","date_gmt":"2017-06-11T19:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2017-06-16T20:39:03","modified_gmt":"2017-06-16T19:39:03","slug":"night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My book of this week is Night, written by Elie Wiesel and translated by his wife Marion Wiesel. Elie wrote about his experience of being deported from his home town Sighet in <\/span>northern Transylvania \u00a0to concentration camps \u00a0towards the end of the WWII in 1944, at age fifteen. Elie\u2019s mother and sisters were separated from Elie and his father after arriving at Birkenau, the first stop after deportation. <\/span><\/p>\n

In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. It must have been around midnight. We had arrived. In Birkenau. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMen to the left! Women to the right!\u201d Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight simple, short words. Yet that was the moment when I left my mother. There was no time to think, and I already felt my father\u2019s hand press against mine: we were alone. In a fraction of a second I could see my mother, my sisters, move to the right. Tzipora was holding Mother\u2019s hand. I saw them walking farther and farther away; Mother was stroking my sister\u2019s blond hair, as if to protect her. And I walked on with my father, with the men. I didn\u2019t know that this was the moment in time and space where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever. I kept walking, my father holding my hand\u2026.My hand tightened my its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elie and his father went through <\/span>Auschwitz<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Buchenwald<\/span><\/a> together. Elie\u2019s father was beaten by the <\/span>Schutzstaffel officer<\/span> and bullied by the other inmates. <\/span><\/p>\n

The victim this time was my father. \u201cYou old loafer!\u201d he started yelling. \u201cIs this what you call working?\u201d And he began beating him with an iron bar. At first, my father simply doubled over under the blows, but then he seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning. I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. In fact, I thought of stealing away in order not to suffer the blows. What\u2019s more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father. Why couldn\u2019t he have avoided Idek\u2019s wrath? That was what life in a concentration camp has made of me\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The health and spirit of Elie\u2019s father both declined considerably and Elie became his caregiver. After a lengthy period of suffering, Elie\u2019s father gave up fighting and lost his hope of survival. <\/span><\/p>\n

I could have screamed in anger. To have lived and endured so much; was I going to let my father die now?…He had become childlike: weak, frightened, vulnerable\u2026This discussion continued for some time. I knew I was no longer arguing with him but with Death itself, with Death that he had already chosen. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elie’s father became very ill soon afterwards. Sleeping on the bunk above his father, Elie woke up one morning and found his father was no longer there and his place was occupied by someone else. It came to Elie that he must have been moved to the crematorium overnight, burned maybe still breathing. <\/span><\/p>\n

No prayers were said over his tomb. No candle lit in his memory. His last word had been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!…<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Reading this book, I experienced an overwhelming amount of mixed feelings: loving, frustrating, sorrowful, abhorrent, disgusting, longing, inconceivable and others. The original book that Elie wrote was over 800 pages. Elie\u2019s writing went through rounds of editing and many difficulties of its publication. As a comparison, the version I have in hand, also the most commonly known and read one has just over 100 pages. Elie called this book his deposition. Is this an eyewitness account, a memoir, fictionalised-autobiography, non-fictional novel or fiction? I cannot help thinking what was cut and lost in revision and translation from its original Yiddish writing, what was washed away by the flow of the time river from the occurrence of the events to being written down in words, what could not be communicated via any language that we are not able to read and indeed the gap between our comprehension and the writing itself. I read it as a faithful depiction of Elie\u2019s experience in the concentration camps during WWII. Throughout the book, we can see the loss of faith, innocence, love, decency, and other emotional and physical beings. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a young boy, Elie was a devoted believer. However, in multiple sections, Elie wrote about the slow death of faith throughout his time in the concentration camps. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Why, but why would I bless Him (God)? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine Altar? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In days gone by, Rosh Hashanah had dominated my life. I knew that my sins grieved the Almighty and so I pleaded for forgiveness. In those days, I fully believed that the salvation of the world depended on every one of my deeds, on every one of my prayers. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. 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. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Reading this book brought back the memory of my visit with my dear friend <\/span>Laurent Risser<\/span><\/a> to the <\/span>Holocaust Memorial<\/span><\/a> in Berlin years ago, not long after its completion. The memorial has over 2700 concrete slabs of varying size, organized in a grid pattern, located in a very large site. It was a beautifully sunny summer afternoon. We walked around it silently for some time. I felt the weight of history and humanity crushing on me like those thousands of concrete slabs. How could humans do this to other humans? The sun cast many shadows, shifting slowly, until the shadows prolonged and covered all. It was a place in which we are reminded that we should never forget how unjustly those killings and tortures were, not for the purpose of revenge but for our own survival as humans; never think that other people\u2019s sufferings are not your own business; never let our consciousness escape us. <\/span><\/p>\n

Below in italic are some more passages from the book that I found myself reading again and again, slowly being etched to me like those numbered tattoos on Elie\u2019s arm. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a rule, our townspeople, while they did help the needy, did not particularly like them. Moishe the Beadle was the exception. He stayed out of people\u2019s way. His presence bothered no one. He had mastered the art of rendering himself insignificant, invisible. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Man comes closer to God through the questions he asks him. Therein lies true dialogue. Man asks and God replies. But we don\u2019t understand his replies. We cannot understand them. Because they dwell in the depths of our souls and remain there until we die. The real answers, Eliezer, you will find only within yourself. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And why do you pray, Moishe? <\/span><\/i>I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There are a thousand and one gates allowing entry into the orchard of mythical truth. Every human being has his own gate. He must not err and wish to enter the orchard through a gate other than his own. That would present a danger not only for the one entering but also for those who are already inside. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d he (Moishe) said in despair. \u201cYou cannot understand. I was saved miraculously. I succeeded in coming back. Where did I get my strength? I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you my death so that you might ready yourselves while there is still time. Life? I no longer care to live. I am alone. But I wanted to come back to warn you. Only no one is listening to me…\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

People thought this was a good thing. We would no longer have to look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares. No more fear. No more anguish. We would live among Jews, among brothers\u2026…Most people thought that they would remain in the ghetto until the end of the war, until the arrival of the Red Army. Afterward everything would be as before. The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The shadows around me roused themselves as if from a deep sleep and left silently in every direction. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The women were boiling eggs, roasting meat, preparing cakes, sewing backpacks. The children were wandering about aimlessly, not knowing what to do with themselves to stay out of the way of the grown-ups. Our backyard looked like a marketplace. Valuable objects, precious rugs, silver candlesticks, Bibles and other ritual objects were strewn over the dusty grounds – pitiful relics that seemed never to have had a home. All this under a magnificent blue sky. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There was joy, yes, joy. People must have thought there could be no greater torment in God\u2019s hell than that of being stranded here, on the sidewalk, among the bundles, in the middle of the street under a blazing sun. Anything seemed preferable to that. They began to walk without another glance of the abandoned streets, the dead, empty houses, the gardens, the tombstones \u2026 on everyone\u2019s back, there was a sack. In everyone\u2019s eyes, tears and distress. Slowly, heavily, the procession advanced toward the gate of the ghetto. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The street resembled fairgrounds deserted in haste. There was a little of everything: suitcases, briefcases, bags, knives, dishes, banknotes, papers, faded portraits. All the things one planned to take along and finally left behind. They had ceased to matter. Open rooms everywhere. Gaping doors and windows looked out into the void. It all belonged to everyone since it no longer belonged to anyone. It was there for the taking. An open tomb. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We were ready. I went out first. I did not want to look at my parents\u2019 faces. I did not want to break into tears. We remained sitting in the middle of the street, like the others two days earlier. The same hellish sun. The same thirst. Only there was no one left to bring us water. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cFaster! Faster! Move, you lazy good-for-nothings!\u201d The Hungarian police were screaming. That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell and death. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The few days we spent here (ghetto) went by pleasantly enough, in relative calm. People rather got along. There no longer was any distinction between rich and poor, notables and the others; we were all people condemned to the same fate – still unknown. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We mustn\u2019t give up hope, even now as the sword hangs over our heads. So taught our sages. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes…children thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that ever since then, sleep tends to elude me?) So that was where we were going. A little farther on, there was another, larger pit for adults. I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real. A nightmare perhaps \u2026 Soon I would wake up with a start, my heart pounding, and find that I was back in the room of my childhood, with my books\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never shall I forget that smoke. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Never. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The absent no longer entered our thoughts. One spoke of them – who knows what happened to them? – but their fate was not on our minds. We were incapable of thinking. Our senses were numbed, everything was fading into a fog. We no longer clung to anything. The instincts of self-preservation, of self-defense, of pride, had all deserted us. In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The night had passed completely. The morning star shone in the sky. I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded – and devoured – by a black flame. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cRemember,\u201d he (an SS officer) went on. \u201cRemember it always, let it be graven in your memories. You are in Auschwitz. And Auschwitz is not a convalescent home. It is a concentration camp. Here, you must work. If you don\u2019t you will go straight to the chimney. To the crematorium. Work or crematorium – the choice is yours.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don\u2019t lose hope. You have already eluded the worst danger: the selection. Therefore, muster your strength and keep your faith. We shall all see the day of liberation. Have faith in life, a thousand times faith. By driving out despair, you will move away from death. Hell does not last forever\u2026 And now, here is a prayer, or rather a piece of advice: let there be a 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\u2026.These were the first human words. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The stomach alone was measuring time. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The bell. It was already time to part, to go to bed. The bell regulated everything. It gave me orders and I executed them blindly. I hated that bell. Whenever I happened to dream of a better world, I imagined a universe without a bell. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Nobody asked anyone for help. One died because one had to. No point in making trouble. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

He awoke with a start. He sat up, bewildered, stunned, like an orphan. He looked all around him, taking it all in as if he had suddenly decided to make an inventory of his universe, to determine where he was and how and why he was there. Then he smiled. I shall always remember that smile. What world did it come from?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The darkness enveloped us. All I could hear was the violin, and it was as if Juliek\u2019s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play again. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yet at the same time a thought crept into my mind: If only I didn\u2019t find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself \u2026 Instantly, I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Let us not forget history. In Silicon Valley, the heart of technology innovation and entrepreneurship, while striving for success according to personal and societal measures, we should also read some history and not forget that technology alone could not create us a better world. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My book of this week is Night, written by Elie Wiesel and translated by his wife Marion Wiesel. Elie wrote about his experience of being deported from his home town Sighet in northern Transylvania \u00a0to concentration camps \u00a0towards the end of the WWII in 1944, at age fifteen. Elie\u2019s mother and sisters were separated from … Continue reading Night<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-rant"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/saFL7T-night","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":707,"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions\/707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dongpingzhang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}