There are good examples of verbal and situational irony in Elie Wiesel's memoir Night. Verbal irony occurs when words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant. It is grimly ironic when, after the Jews are ordered to wear yellow stars, Elie's father says, "The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don't die of it..." The statement is ironic because that is precisely how Elie's father dies. The wearing of the yellow star was one step on the path to the concentration camps and almost certain death. After almost a year in the camps, Elie's father dies from dysentery at Buchenwald.
Situational irony occurs when what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate. In section five, as Russian troops come closer to the work camp at Buna where Elie and his father are imprisoned, the camp is ordered to be evacuated. Elie has just had foot surgery and is recovering in the hospital. He is told that he and his father can stay behind at the hospital while the rest of the prisoners are deported:
The choice was in our hands. For once we could decide our fate for ourselves. We could both stay in the hospital, where I could, thanks to my doctor, get him entered as a patient or a nurse. Or else we could follow the others.
Elie has heard from other prisoners that once the evacuation has taken place the camp would be blown up, so his choice is difficult. Ultimately he chooses to leave with the rest of the prisoners. Wiesel's decision was tragic. Ironically, only two days after they leave, the camp is liberated by the Russians. Instead of liberation, Elie and his father spend more months as prisoners, first on a forced march, and then at Buchenwald where Elie's father dies.
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