When a Christian boy disappears in a fictional Eastern European town in the 1920s, the local Jews are quickly accused of ritual murder. There is tension in the air and a pogrom threatens to erupt. Suddenly, an extraordinary man—Moshe the dreamer, a madman and mystic—steps forward and confesses to a crime he did not commit, in a vain attempt to save his people from certain death. The community gathers to hear his last words—a plea for silence—and everyone present takes an oath: whoever survives the impending tragedy must never speak of the town’s last days and nights of terror. For fifty years the sole survivor keeps his oath—until he meets a man whose life depends on hearing the story, and one man’s loyalty to the dead confronts head-on another’s reason to go on living. One of Wiesel’s strongest early novels, this timeless parable about the Jews and their enemies, about hate, family, friendship, and silence, is as powerful, haunting, and significant as it was when first published in 1973.

A plane en route from New York to Tel Aviv is forced down by bad weather. A nearby house provides refuge for five of its passengers. Once they are locked in, their enigmatic host tells them he is their judge, and they must reveal their lives to him. Shockingly, he announces the least worthy of them will be sentenced to death. Who should live, and who should die? Which crash survivor has the weakest claim on life?

Reflections by the Nobel-winning philosopher and novelist on the prophets, scribes, and rebbes who comprise the histories and myths of Jewish folklore. Most of these essays were originally given as lectures at the 92nd Street Y in New York, and even in written form they preserve the tone and tempo of extemporary speech. The style is anecdotal rather than scholarly, and Wiesel does not hesitate to bring his opinions to bear.

An anthology of works - lectures, reviews, interviews, dialogues, forewords, essays, etc. In Vol. 1, section 1 (p. 89-240), "The Holocaust Era", deals with the Holocaust past, present, and future - also in connection with Jewish destiny. In Vol. 2, section 7 (p. 171-218), "Israel", contains several items relating to the Eichmann trial. Section 8 (p. 221-263), "Soviet Jewry", contains items devoted to antisemitism and the fate of the Jews in the USSR. In Vol. 3, sections 12-14 include literary works - television scripts, a drama, and stories, while section 15 (p. 57-125), "The Books: Genesis and Commentary", contains Wiesel's writings about his own books, including his Holocaust novels. Sections 18-19 deal with the President's Commission on the Holocaust and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Pp. 337-372 present a bibliography of works by Wiesel. Numerous short items in other sections of the volumes also relate to antisemitism.