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The plot of Night is pretty simple. Eliezer, a Jew, is captured by the Nazis, shipped from concentration camp to concentration camp, and forced to endure terrible abuse until his liberation in 1945. Jenny has more of the specifics on Eliezer’s journey in Night-just press play.

Video Transcription:

There’s not a lot of plot in this story. But Eliezer’s journey isn’t too difficult to follow—at least, not if you pay attention to his locations. Coming up, I’ve got the landmarks you can look for along the way.

The story opens in Sighet, Transylvania where Eliezer lives a normal life as a deeply religious Jew.

But when the Germans show up in 1944, Eliezer and the other Jews are first confined to the Jewish ghetto, and then shipped out. After a horrible train ride, they arrive at Birkenau, a concentration camp in Poland. The men and the women are separated. It’s the last time Eliezer sees his mother and sisters.

Eliezer and his father manage to stick together and after a march to the work camp, Buna, they’re assigned to work in an electrical factory. The labor isn’t difficult, but the conditions are horrific. Eliezer watches as he and the other prisoners slowly lose their humanity.

Months later, Buna is evacuated by the Nazis just before the Russians can liberate it.

After a 50-mile run in the middle of a snowstorm, Eliezer, his father, and the other prisoners are herded into cattle cars that take them to the concentration camp Buchenwald. Although Eliezer and his father are two of only 12 who survive the ride, Eliezer’s father dies of dysentery almost immediately.

Eliezer survives for the liberation of Buchenwald on April 11, 1945.