Dawn is a novel by Elie Wiesel, published in 1961. It is the second in a trilogy — Night, Dawn, and Day — describing Wiesel's experiences and thoughts during and after the Holocaust.
Unlike Night, Dawn is a work of fiction. It tells the story of Elisha, a Holocaust survivor. After the war, Elisha moves to the British Mandate of Palestine and joins the Irgun (in the book known as the Movement), a paramilitary group determined to oust the British from the area. One night, he is told he must execute a British officer at dawn. The novel covers his internal struggle leading up to the execution, looking back on his life and those that have affected it.
Synopsis
The book starts out in Paris with Elisha, the main character, trying to start over from his childhood at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. A man named Gad stops over at Elisha's house to ask if he will give him his future. Gad wants him to join the Movement. Elisha agrees and moves to Palestine to help fight with the Movement.
The Movement is a group of terrorists made up of Jews who are fighting the British for control over Palestine. Elisha is sent to a training camp for six weeks to learn how to be a freedom fighter. After Elisha is trained, he is sent out on missions to kill the British in large quantities. Everyone within the Movement goes on separate assignments. While on one mission, a "brother" named David ben Moshe was injured and captured.
The British took David ben Moshe as a prisoner of war and sentenced him to be executed at dawn. In retaliation, the Movement took hostage a British captain named John Dawson. The Movement threatened that if David Ben Moshe is executed, then they will kill John Dawson. However, if the British were to let Moshe go, then the people of the Movement would let Dawson go as well. The Old Man, the leader of the Movement, ordered Elisha to execute John Dawson at dawn if David ben Moshe was put to death.
John Dawson is kept in a house with a jail in the basement. Elisha and a group of "brothers" from the Movement, sat and waited for the confirmation that Moshe was to be hanged. The radio confirmed that night the execution of David Ben Moshe is to happen at dawn. When the announcement was finished, "The Voice of Freedom" came on. This underground station is used by the Movement to get information out to the people. The "Voice of Freedom" is a woman named Ilana, who happens to be in love with Gad. Later in the night when the broadcast is finished, Ilana came to the house where John Dawson was being kept. The group of people at the house were sitting and talking about how they have escaped death and about Dawson's execution.
As the talking continued they decide that Dawson may be hungry. However, Elisha says he is not, asking how can a man be hungry when he knows he is about to die. Gad still takes a plate of food to Dawson and he ends up eating it all. While Elisha is waiting for Gad to return, he saw the poltergeists of people from his past. For example, a younger version of himself, his parents, the beggar, and his master, who is a Rabbi. The beggar is a man that taught him how to see the night and that Elisha thinks is a prophet, and the master is someone that Elisha looked up to as a role model. At this moment, Elisha was having an internal battle within himself about killing John Dawson and whether or not he wanted to go see him. When Gad comes back up from feeding Dawson and tells Elisha that he ate it all, Elisha is so shocked and confused that he decided that he is going to talk to him before he is to kill him, as he did not want to kill a complete stranger. Elisha wants to talk to Dawson by himself; Gad walked over to Elisha and handed him a sleek black revolver to take with him.
When Elisha sees Dawson, he is surprised by how tall he appeared to be and how handsome he is. The only thing he knew about John Dawson was that he is going to die; the first thing John Dawson said to Elisha "What time is it?" (206). Elisha knew what he was talking about right away and answered that it is not yet, only around four-something in the morning. Then, Dawson asked for Elisha's name, and Elisha asked for a funny story. Dawson did not give one, but he did talk about his son. Before he was to be executed, he asked for a piece of paper from Elisha and wrote a letter to his son. Elisha said he would put it in the post that day. As the time came for Dawson to die, he tried to tell his funny story, but it was too late at that point. Elisha shot as Dawson was saying his name. Once his job was done, Elisha walked back upstairs, knowing he was a changed man.