Chapter 9

Elie stays in Buchenwald until April 11th. During this period, Elie is emotionally numb. "After my father's death, nothing could touch me any more."

As the front draws ever closer, the Germans decide to liquidate the camp. But on April 10th, as the prisoners gather for an assembly, the camp resistance successfully takes control of Buchenwald. The Germans do not put up a fight. At about six o'clock in the evening, American tanks arrive.

The first thing the prisoners do as free men is to go through the provisions. They think not of revenge, nor their families, but of bread. Three days after the liberation of Buchenwald, Elie suffers from food poisoning and spends two weeks in the hospital between life and death. One day, Elie gathers enough strength to get up and look in the mirror. He had not seen himself since the ghetto. He stares into someone unrecognizable: "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me."

What a great book!

Chapter 8

At Buchenwald, Elie's father says that he wants to give up. Elie tries desperately to urge his father to have hope. But Elie is so tired he falls asleep. When he awakes, he remembers his father. Feeling that somehow, he had abandoned his father, Elie goes to look for him. Yet, in his mind, Elie wishes that he could be rid of his father. Ashamed of such thoughts, Elie finds his father and attends to his needs. In bringing some hot coffee, Elie thinks that with those few gulps, "I probably brought him more satisfaction than I had done during my whole childhood." Elie's father suffers from dysentery and is near death. Elie gets a doctor to see his father, but the doctor tells Elie that it is useless.

Elie's father lies in bed for several days where he complains to Elie that his neighbors are beating him and taking his food. A week goes by. The head of the block tells Elie to look out for himself and forget about his father. Although Elie finds the advice reasonable, he chooses not to leave his father. As Elie's father cries out for water, an officer gives him a severe blow to his head. On January 28th, 1945, Elie sees his father for the last time: "his blood-stained face, his shattered skull." When Elie wakes up the next day, his father is gone-they had taken him during the night. Elie feels guilty that he has no tears to shed. He does not know what to feel.

"But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might perhaps have found something like-free at last!"

I know his feelings were constrewed by his need for survival, but it's still a little harsh and heartbreaking

Chapter 7

On the train ride, dead corpses are thrown out. Two prisoners try to throw Elie’s father out but he convinces the men that his father is still alive. In all, twenty bodies are thrown out of the train, "leaving behind it a few hundred naked dead, deprived of burial, in the deep snow of a field in Poland." As they have no rations, the only food available is snow. After ten days of travel, a German workman throws a piece of bread into the passing wagon. There is a stampede for the morsel of bread. The German workman finds the melee interesting. (Elie Wiesel recalls years later, at Aden, a similar situation where some woman throws coins for the native boys). Elie even witnesses a boy named Meir kill his own father over a piece of bread. After the son seizes the bread from his father, he too is killed by other hungry prisoners. Elie watches the resulting sight with horror: "When they withdrew, next to me were two corpses, side by side, the father and the son. I was fifteen years old.

One night, on the train ride, a stranger tries to strangle Elie. His father calls for his friend, Meir Katz, and he comes and saves Elie. Although Meir Katz is the most robust of them all, he begins to lose hope. After keeping his emotions in check up to this time, Meir Katz finally weeps over his son, a victim of the first selection. As an icy wind starts to blow, someone dying lets out a loud wail. It becomes contagious and soon, everyone starts to cry and wail. Elie can only dread: "All limits had been passed. No one had any strength left. And again the night would be long." At last, the train reaches its final destination, Buchenwald. Meir Katz does not make it. A hundred prisoners begin the trip; only a dozen survive, including Elie and his father.

A bit rediculous, isn't it? even with my knowledge of these events, it's still horrific. The howling sends chills down your spine, doesn't it?

Chapter 6

So by now the prisoners are in the middle of the evacuation, in a snowstorm. The SS guards fire at anyone who cannot keep up. Elie is next to a Polish boy named Zalman, who gets a stomache cramp and falls behind. Elie can only hope the worst for him. It appears as if death is drawing closer, and the only thing motivating Elie is the thought of his father.

After covering tens of miles, they are finally allowed to rest. Many prisoners find their way into a brick factory, including Elie and his father. Elie falls asleep. They are forced back outside, and re-enter a shed. They sit there for a little while. A rabbi walks in, looking for his son. Elie says he hasn't seen his son, but then remembers that he had seen his son purposely run away from him. He prays to God that he doesn't become like the son.

They start to march once more. They walk for hours until they reach Gleiwitz, in which they are thrown into overcrowded barracks where they are forced to lay on top of eachother. But here he heres the voice of his frend Juliek. But the man on top of Elie almost suffocates him and he barely frees himself. He heres the sound of Juliek's violin. The next day Juliek is dead.

After three days in the barracks without food or water, they are forced to march once more away from the advancing Russians. Another selection is made, and Elie's father is chosen. Elie manages to distract the Germans and his father sneaks back over. They wait for the train, eat their bread, and melt snow for water. The trains arrive.

That's a little odd. Elie prays to God for something. What God? The God that he belittled and questioned so much?

Here is what I think. The Russian advancement not only gives hope to the Jews for freedom, but the thought of freedom and hope gives the Jews a revitalization of their faith. Elie manages to keep his father with him. This can only play out as an advantage as things progress (that is, if he can keep out of trouble). It almost seems as if things are getting better perhaps?

We were masters of nature, masters of the world. We had forgotten everything-death, fatigue, our natural needs. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die, condemned and wandering, mere numbers, we were the only men on earth.

Chapter 5

The Jewish holidays arrive: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Even in their suffering, the majority of the Jewish community comes together and celebrates. All, that is, except for Elizer. His loss of faith has led him to be alone on this day of atonement. He distrusts God, almost belittling Him in his thoughts. Although it is against Jewish tradition to eat on this day, Eliezer does. He also finds his father, only to see that the look on his face was that of hopelessness.

Soon thereafter, it is announced that another selection is to be held. Elizer's father is one of the ones deemed to weak to work, and is sent to be killed. He brings Eliezer his knife and spoon (his inheritance) and leaves. But by some grace or miracle, there was another selection, and his father survived. Akiba Drumer did not survive, due to the fact that he loses his faith and will to live (among other to lose their faith is a rabbi).

The winter conditions cause the prisoners a large amout of suffering. Eliezer's foot sweels and he undergoes a surgery. While in the hospital, he gains a little hope from a rumor that the RUssians are coming to liberate them soon. However, the Germans quickly evacuate the camp, and Eliezer and his father go along. The Jews left behind are freed a few days later. Eliezer, along with the rest of their prisoners, begin the evacuation at nightfall in a snowstorm, with his injured foot bleeding in the snow.

Wow. Remember when I talked about the loss of faith... if you don't, try looking at every blog that i've posted. The only kick is that now Eliezer is almost rewarded: his father is still alive. But the point is still clear with Akiba Drumer, who loses his faith, and dies. Even the rabbi turns away from God. Eliezer doesn't even celebrate the major Jewish Holidays and defies Jewish Law. He belittles God - a sign of the destruction of his dignity and human rights.

I honestly thought his father was going to die. If this wasn't the climax of the book, then I don't know what was. The only real thing keeping me interested in the book is his relationship with his father. I already know that Eliezer survived the concentration, so this is a sort of sick cliff-hanger.

Chapter 4

The prisoners are inspected. Eliezer is chosen to serve in a group that counts electrical fittings in a warehouse. He is very fortunate (or unfortunate?) that his father is with him. They are housed near the musicians (headed by a German Jew). Eliezer meets various musicians, among which are two brothers named Yosi and Tibi, and Juliek. Akiba Drumer also encounters Aliezer.

Eliezer, after he and his father arive to Buna, is called to the dentist who wishes to pull his crowns out (he was later hanged because he traded the gold teeth), and Eliezer gets out of this by faking sick. Elizer does not pity him. Eliezer encounters many problems with Idek, who was in charge of the unit. He beats him violently, but recieves confort when a French girl tried to console him (they later bump into eachother on a train in Paris; she was a Jew but worked i the warehouse as a laborer and not a prisoner). Idek also beats his father. Eliezer is angry at his father instead of Idek.

Then, an air raid strikes the camp. Two containers of soup are left in the open. A prisoner tries to reach the soup, and fails and dies from a gunshot. The Nazis build gallows and have their first hangings, in which the people who tried to steal thins during the air raid are hanged. Among them is a young boy who was basically innocent. The Jews by now are used to not crying, but everyone cannot help but weep at the site of the young boy struggling to stay alive.

This chapter summarizes all the things that had been happening into one chapter. His relationship is important with his father. However, as seen in the earlier chapters, the Nazis treating the Jews as nonhumans make them act as nonhumans towards eachother. When Eliezer sees his father get beat, not only does he not help, but he gets mad at his father (this is because he natural instincts have been stripped; the instinct to feel compassion for his father is gone and maybe even reversed).

The idea of being consoled also present. The French woman that he meets comforts him in his time of need. However, Eliezer is losing his faith. Akiba Drumer is the exact opposite of Eliezer's character. Akiba is surviving on faith alone, where Elizer's faith is being shapen into a smaller ball every day he is there. This is especially harmful when he sees the young boy being hanged, which almost destroys his faith completely.

At this point, in my mind, it's make or break for Eliezer. One more big impact could put him over the edge.

Chapter 3

The Jewish prisoners begin the process of selection. Eliezer and his father are still together, but his mother and sister are separated. Another prisoner talks them into lying about their age, a word wisely taken. He also mentions that they are at Auschwitz to be killed; the young prisoners consider rebelling but the older ones tell them to rely on faith. Dr. Mengele is the one to determine arrivals. Both Eliezer and his father are sent to be workers.

Uncertainty is still spreading through the Jewish captives (they did not know at the time that they were being sent to work). While they are moving through the camp, they see pits where adults and babies are burned. No one can believe what they are seeing. Everyone breaks down and starts to weep. They start to recite the Kaddish, except for Eliezer, who doesn’t fully understand why God is being thanked.

They enter the barracks, are shaved, disinfected, showered, and clothed. A Nazi German gives them a briefing, and Eliezer’s father asks for a bathroom. He is brutally beaten by the head prisoner, and Eliezer blames himself for not standing up for him. They march to Auschwitz, where they live for a little bit and have their arms branded. Their relative informs them that his family is doing well. They learn that this is not true. Then they are escorted to Buna, the work camp. Their faith in God is still strong.

Eliezer’s doubt starts to form and accumulate during the chapter in the Auschwitz camp. It’s a subtle change, but a change none-the-less. He questions why the prisoners are thanking God (when they were walking by the adults and babies being burned). However, this is directly contrasting the beliefs of the other prisoners, who keep a strong faith throughout. Not only does he doubt God, but he doubts himself. His own faith in mankind. The Kapo beats his father, while Eliezer just watches. His silence makes him possess a feeling of guilt, and results in an almost beat down of his morality. According the Wiesel, silence in the wake of evil allows it to thrive.

The night was gone. The morning star was shining in the sky. I too had become a completely different person. The student of the Talmud, the child that I was, had become consumed in the flames. There remained only a shape that looked like me. A dark flame had entered into my soul and devoured it

I did not deny God's existence, but i doubted His absolute justice