The main character's name is Eliezer. We learn that he is twelveyear old and lives in the Transylvanian town of Sighet. His family is a very stroct Jewish Orthodox family. He has two older sisters, Hilda and Bea and a younger sister named Tzipora. His parents are shopkeepers, but his dad seems to be respected throughout town. Eliezer studies Jewish law, under the teacher Moishe the Beadle. After a little while, the Hungarians banish all foreign Jews. One of the people banished is Moshe. After several months, Moishe returns and tells how the trains were taken over by the Gestapo at the Polish border. He says how the Jews were forced to dig graves for themselves and were killed by the Gestapo. No one believes him, and many call him insane.
In the spring of 1944, the Fascist German armies control the Hungarian government. The Germans soon move into Sighet. The Jewish leaders are arrested, Jewish valuables are confiscated, and all Jews are forced to wear yellow stars. Soon, the Jews are stuck in small "ghettos", crowded together behind barbed-wire fences. The Nazis begin to deport the Jews and Eliezer’s family is one of the last to leave Sighet. They are first forced into a smaller "ghetto.' A few days later, the Nazis and the Hungarian police, force the last Jews in Sighet onto cattle cars that are heading for Auschwitz.
For me, the most powerful quote of this section was: " Without passion, without haste, they slaughtered their prisoners. Each one had to go up to the hole and present his neck. Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets". (6) Just thinking about this happening is terrible. The descriptions in this book are very graphic, and Wiesel doesn't leave anything out. It really adds to the horror of the story, and helps me to connect with the emotions of the characters.
3 comments:
This is a very good summary of the section. It shows how the Jews lived a normal life and then went to living under the direct control of the Nazi's. Maybe just include how the Jews were comfortable with the Nazi's at first.
I liked your detail of your summary. The summary had every important events that were necessary to mention. That quote was good with plenty of imagery in it so you can visual the story as Moshe tells it.
I thought this summary did a good job of giving a total overview for the chapter. I also liked that you described how you felt about a specific quote. This is a very strong summary.
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