Night Glossary

Babylonian captivity: in the history of the Jews, the period from the fall of Jerusalem and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. until the return of the Jews to Jerusalem following a decree of the Persian King Cyrus in 538 B.C.E.

Beadle, Moishe the: a beadle ushers and preserves order during services. Everyone in Sighet refers to Eliezer's instructor in the Kabbalah as "Moishe the Beadle" rather than by his last name to denote his function at religious services.

benediction: a blessing, which often concludes religious services

billeted: to assign lodging to soldiers

Birkenau: also known as Auschwitz II (see Auschwitz), Birkenau contained the large-scale killing apparatus at Auschwitz. It also housed thousands of concentration camp prisoners deployed at forced labor.

blandishment: something that tends to coax or cajole; flattery

Boche: a derogatory French slang term for a German

Buchenwald: a large concentration camp established in 1937 by the Nazis located in north-central Germany, near the city of Weimar

Buna, Bunaweke: plant established by I.G. Farben on the site of Auschwitz III (Monowitz) in German-occupied Poland. I.G. Farben executives aimed to produce synthetic rubber and synthetic fuel (gasoline), using forced labor. Despite the death of thousands of forced laborers, I.G. Farben never produced any synthetic rubber and was unable to mass produce synthetic fuel. (See Auschwitz.) 

Hitler's Final Solution