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Gallery

Pre-War Sighet Visual Essay

Enrich your reading of Night with photos depicting daily life in Elie Wiesel's hometown.
Last Updated:

At a Glance

Gallery

Language

English — US

Subject

  • History
  • The Holocaust

Pre-War Sighet Visual Essay

Enrich your reading of Night with photos depicting daily life in Elie Wiesel's hometown.

Young boys on a bench in Sighet, Poland. Circa 1920.
Young boys on a bench in Sighet, Poland. Circa 1920.
Group portrait outside of a wooden synagogue
Group portrait outside of a wooden synagogue
Group photo of men in suits and a young girl
Group photo of men in suits and a young girl
Portrait of a man with a long, grey, beard, and wearing a black hat and black clothes
Portrait of a man with a long, grey, beard, and wearing a black hat and black clothes
Group photo of soccer players
Group photo of soccer players
Boys standing beside weaving machines posing for a photo.
Boys standing beside weaving machines posing for a photo.
Black and white drawing of town square in Sighet, Romania. Depicts pre-World War II Sighet.
Black and white drawing of town square in Sighet, Romania. Depicts pre-World War II Sighet.
Family portrait with children, parents, and grandparents. Taken circa 1930-1940.
Family portrait with children, parents, and grandparents. Taken circa 1930-1940.

Students at Kheyder

Students sitting at a traditional Jewish religious school, or kheyder, in 1920s Sighet.

Credit:
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

Members of Sighet’s Jewish Community

A group photo in front of Sighet’s synagogue, ca. 1930–1939.

Credit:
Romanian Jews standing in front of a Synagogue before World War 2.

Leaders of Sighet’s Jewish Community

Leaders of the Jewish community in Sighet, including Mr. Hershkovich, Mr. Klein, Mr. Yacobovich, and Mr. Jahan, ca. 1928–1930.

Credit:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Morris Spitzer

Yosef Meir Weiss

Portrait of Yosef Meir Weiss, the Spinka rebbe from Sighet, 1906.

Credit:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Morris Spitzer

Sighet Soccer Club

The members of Sighet Soccer Club pose for a group photo.

Credit:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Morris Spitzer

Weaving Workshop at a Yeshiva

Students in a weaving workshop at a yeshiva, or rabbinical academy, in Sighet before the war.

Credit:
From the Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York

Sighet before World War II

An image of the main market square in the Transylvanian town of Sighet, Romania, taken before World War II.

Credit:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Mitchell Eisen

Pre-War Jewish Family

A Jewish family, possibly in Sighet, taken before the beginning of World War II, ca. 1930–1940.

Credit:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Solange Dratler Lebowitz
Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening.
— Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif