Why Teaching Elie Wiesel’s Night Is Critical – and How to Do It Effectively

Over my 15 years of teaching high school English, I have found few texts as powerful and essential as Elie Wiesel’s Night. This harrowing memoir of the Holocaust is more than just a historical account—it is a profound meditation on humanity, faith, and survival. Teaching Night is not just about reading a book; it is about helping students bear witness to history, grapple with difficult moral questions, and develop the empathy and critical thinking skills that are essential to be an engaged citizen–and a decent human being.

Teaching Night in a meaningful way within a secondary classroom, however, comes with its challenges. It requires a good deal of front-loading, as students need considerable knowledge of the Holocaust to understand the events within and truly grasp the weight of the story. Additionally, the content itself is emotionally intense and, at times, disturbing, requiring sensitivity and preparation in discussion and reflection.

With that in mind, here are some strategies that I use when teaching Night in my high school ELA classroom:

1. Provide Historical Context

Before diving into the text, ensure students understand the historical background of the Holocaust. Learning about the rise of anti-Semitism, the Nazi regime, and the concentration camp system will give students the essential context to full understand and appreciate Wiesel’s first-person account. I typically introduce the unit with a detailed PowerPoint that includes not only necessary historical context, but authentic (not too graphic) images that help to make this terrible time in history real to students.

2. Engage Students in Reflective Writing

Journaling is a powerful tool when teaching Night. For instance, you may ask students to keep a response journal, where they can write about their emotions, connections, and questions after each chapter. Prompts like “How would you respond in Elie’s situation?” or “What does this passage make you think about our world today?” encourage deep reflection. My Night Analysis Activities resource includes a number of journal prompts and reflective writing opportunities that can help students dig deeper and reflect upon difficult but important moral questions that arise while reading.

3. Create a Supportive Environment for Open Discussion

Facilitate open discussions where students can explore difficult themes in a supportive environment. Use guiding questions like:

• How does Wiesel’s relationship with his father evolve throughout the memoir?
• What role does faith play in Elie’s survival and suffering?
• How do we see dehumanization at work in the book, and where do we see it in the world today?

Encourage students to support their ideas with textual evidence and listen to different perspectives with respect. You can find some thought-provoking reflection and analysis questions in my Night Study Guide.

4. Incorporate Multimedia and Survivor Testimonies

Students often connect more deeply with personal stories and visual history. Consider showing clips from documentaries like Night and Fog or Schindler’s List. If possible, invite a Holocaust survivor to speak to your class. Even recorded testimonies can be deeply moving and make history feel real and immediate.

5. Make Connections to Modern Issues

The lessons of Night are not confined to the past. Discuss with students how themes of intolerance, propaganda, and genocide persist today. Compare Wiesel’s experiences with more recent events like the Rwandan Genocide or the plight of refugees. Encourage students to think about their own responsibility in combating injustice and standing up for human rights. You can find a number of options to help connect Night to issues in today’s world in my Night Analysis Activities resource.

6. End with a Project or Creative Response

To help students process what they’ve learned, end the unit with a meaningful project. Options include:

• A reflective essay on a theme from Night
• A creative piece (poem, short story, or artwork) inspired by the memoir
• A research project on contemporary human rights issues
• A letter to a Holocaust remembrance organization expressing what they learned and how they will carry Wiesel’s message forward

I like to provide my students with a menu of such options for their final project (you can find this in my Night Activities resource as well as my Night Unit). This enables them to connect more closely with the text in a way that is more personally meaningful to them.

Final Thoughts

Teaching Night is not easy, but it is necessary. Wiesel’s words are a call to remembrance, a challenge to indifference, and a plea for humanity. While it is not easy as an educator, we have a duty to ensure that our students engage with difficult history, ask hard questions, and emerge with a deeper sense of responsibility to the world around them.

By teaching Night with care, context, and compassion, we help ensure that Wiesel’s story—and the stories of millions—will never be forgotten. And in doing so, we empower the next generation to stand against injustice and to honor the memory of those who suffered by committing to a more just and humane future.

Need additional ideas and resources to teach Night? You can find my Night unit here, including a detailed background PowerPoint, thought-provoking questions for each chapter, a wide variety of analysis activities to help students dig deeper and connect events to today’s world, as well as vocabulary activities, quizzes, and final project menu.

Have any ideas to add on how you teach Night in your classroom? I’d love to hear them.