This section starts off with Elie and his dad on the train. On the train Eliezer's dad is very week and almost gets thrown out with the dead. The people on the train that are alive throw out the dead people whenever they stop. Also they fight over and scraps of food that gets thrown on the train. They end up having the huddle for warmth and when they try moving they can't because so many people are very weak.
Eventually they stop at a concentration camp. Here they are given hot showers and not much else. Eliezer's dad is too weak to go into the showers and eventually dies because he is dragged off into the crematorium. Eliezer is conflicted with feelings as he is happy he is lifted of the burden of his father, but at the same time that is a bad opinion. Eventually the Jews are freed as the underground resistance takes over and the allies move in. Eliezer is poisoned by something and has to go a hospital where he fights it for two weeks. Elie finally gets freed.
Now that i have finished the book i feel as though i have learned a lot. I always here about how terrible the Holocaust is, but i have never really understood it's true cruelty. The detail put into this book really had me thinking about how lucky I am and how terrible it was for the Jews. I really grew close to the Character of Eliezer, and by the end i felt terrible for him. His struggle to find his religious beliefs is something all teens go through, and i am making this book a must-read for all teenagers who don't understand the severity of the Holocaust
20080527
Section 6
Ellie Wiesel before the Holocaust
The prisoners arrive at the Gleiwitz camp. Eliezer and his father are thrown to the ground. Fighting for air, Eliezer discovers that he is lying on top of Juliek. Eliezer soon finds that he himself is in danger of being crushed to death by the man lying on top of him. Eliezer falls asleep to the music of Julieks violin, and when he wakes he finds Juliek dead. Eliezer’s father is sent to stand among the condemned to die, so Eliezer runs after him. Eliezer and his father are able to sneak back over to the other side during the panic. The prisoners are picked up by cattle cars.
The prisoners ordered to throw out the bodies of the dead men. Eliezer’s father, is almost thrown from the car, but Eliezer wakes him. The Jews get so hungry on the train that they survive on snow. As they pass through German towns, some people throw bread into the car in order to watch the Jews kill each other for the food. One night, someone tries to strangle Eliezer in his sleep, but Meir Katz rescues him. When the train arrives at Buchenwald, only twelve out of the 100 men who were in Eliezer’s train car are still alive.
The prisoners from Buna are evacuated. Anybody who stops running is shot by the SS. A boy named Zalman stops and is run over and dies. Eliezer forces himself to run along with the other prisoners only for his father running near him. After running for more than forty-two miles, the prisoners find themselves in a deserted village. Rabbi Eliahou is looking for his son and ends up in the shed where Eliezer and his father are collapsed. Eliezer tells him he has not seen the son, but, he saw the son running ahead when it seemed Rabbi Eliahou would not survive. Eliezer prays that he will never do what Rabbi Eliahou’s son did.
The prisoners arrive at the Gleiwitz camp. Eliezer and his father are thrown to the ground. Fighting for air, Eliezer discovers that he is lying on top of Juliek. Eliezer soon finds that he himself is in danger of being crushed to death by the man lying on top of him. Eliezer falls asleep to the music of Julieks violin, and when he wakes he finds Juliek dead. Eliezer’s father is sent to stand among the condemned to die, so Eliezer runs after him. Eliezer and his father are able to sneak back over to the other side during the panic. The prisoners are picked up by cattle cars.
The prisoners ordered to throw out the bodies of the dead men. Eliezer’s father, is almost thrown from the car, but Eliezer wakes him. The Jews get so hungry on the train that they survive on snow. As they pass through German towns, some people throw bread into the car in order to watch the Jews kill each other for the food. One night, someone tries to strangle Eliezer in his sleep, but Meir Katz rescues him. When the train arrives at Buchenwald, only twelve out of the 100 men who were in Eliezer’s train car are still alive.
20080525
Section 5
Despite their imprisonment, the Jews of Buna come together to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. On this Jewish holiday, Eliezer cannot find a reason to bless God in the midst of so much suffering. Eliezer mocks the idea that the Jews are God’s chosen people, and says that they have only been chosen to be killed. He comes to believe that people are stronger and more forgiving than God. Eliezer finds his father, and they are overjoyed to see each other. However, Eliezer sees his father is very upset. Eliezer decides to eat on Yom Kippur, the day on which Jews traditionally fast in order to make up for their sins.
Soon after the Jewish New Year, another selection is made. Eliezer gets separated from his father to work in the building unit. He worries that his father will not pass the selection. After several days it turns out that Eliezer’s father is said to be too weak to work and will be executed. Hegives Eliezer his knife and spoon, which is all that he has left. Eliezer is forced to leave, and will never see his father again. When he returns from work, he finds out a second selection occurred between the weak, and his father survived. Akiba Drumer does not survive the selection and is going to be killed. Others are also beginning to lose their faith.
The prisoners begin to suffer due to the cold weather. Eliezer huits his foot and gets an operation. While he is recovering, the rumor of the the approaching Russian army gives him hope. But the Germans decide to evacuate the camp before the Russians can arrive. Eliezer and his father choose to be evacuated with the others. After the war, Eliezer learns that they made the wrong decision. If they would have stayed they would have been freed by the Russians a few days later.
Soon after the Jewish New Year, another selection is made. Eliezer gets separated from his father to work in the building unit. He worries that his father will not pass the selection. After several days it turns out that Eliezer’s father is said to be too weak to work and will be executed. Hegives Eliezer his knife and spoon, which is all that he has left. Eliezer is forced to leave, and will never see his father again. When he returns from work, he finds out a second selection occurred between the weak, and his father survived. Akiba Drumer does not survive the selection and is going to be killed. Others are also beginning to lose their faith.
The prisoners begin to suffer due to the cold weather. Eliezer huits his foot and gets an operation. While he is recovering, the rumor of the the approaching Russian army gives him hope. But the Germans decide to evacuate the camp before the Russians can arrive. Eliezer and his father choose to be evacuated with the others. After the war, Eliezer learns that they made the wrong decision. If they would have stayed they would have been freed by the Russians a few days later.
20080512
Section 4
Eliezer and his dad are chosen by a Kapo to serve in a unit who counts electrical fittings in a warehouse. They are housed in the musicians’ block, which is run by a kind German Jew. In this block of prisoners, Eliezer meets Juliek, and the brothers Yosi and Tibi. They plan to move to Palestine together after the war is over. Eliezer is sent to the dentist to have his gold crown pulled. He manages to say he is sick and postpone having the crown removed. Soon after, the dentist is hanged for illegally trading in gold teeth. Eliezer does not ferl bad for him, because he is too busy finding food to eat. One day, Idek violently beats Eliezer. Afterwords, a French girl who works next to Eliezer in the warehouse offers him some help.
The book skips forward several years to show how after the Holocaust, he runs into the same girl on the Métro in Paris. It then returns to Eliezer’s time at Buna. Eliezer’s father is now beat by Idek. Rather than feel angry at Idek, Eliezer becomes angry at his father for being unable to dodge Idek’sbeating. When Franek, the foreman, notices Eliezer’s gold crown, he wants it. He listens to his father and refuses to yield the tooth. As punishment Franek beats Eliezer’s father until Eliezer eventually gives up. Idek and Franek are transferred to another camp. Before this happens, Eliezer accidentally witnesses Idek having sex in the barracks and Idek publicly whips Eliezer until he loses consciousness. During an Allied air raid on Buna, two cauldrons of soup are left unattended and a man risks his life to crawl to the soup. He reaches the soup, and lifts himself up to eat but falls lifeless to the ground. Eliezer tells the story of a little boy being hung. Everyone, uncharacteristicly, breaks into tears as they watch the child strangle on the end of the noose.
20080504
Section 3
At Birkenau, the Jews are seperated by their strength, and the weak ones are killed. Eliezer and his father get separated from Eliezer’s mother and younger sister, and he never sees them again. They meet a prisoner who forces them to lie about their ages. Another prisoner tells them they have been brought to Auschwitz to be killed and burned. Some young Jews begin to consider rebelling, but the older Jews advise them to rely not on rebellion but on faith and they listen. They then see Dr. Mengele determining whether new arrivals are fit to work or whether they are to be killed. Eliezer lies about his age, telling him he is eighteen.
As the prisoners move through Birkenau, they are horrified to see a huge pit where babies are being burned, and another for adults. Eliezer cannot believe his eyes, and it is clear that this is extremely hard for him to see. His father is equally emotional and begins to cry. Everybody in crys, and somebody begins to recite the Jewish prayer for the dead, the Kaddish. In the barracks, the Jews are stripped and shaved, disinfected with gasoline, showered, and put in prison uniforms. They are told by a Nazi officer that they have two options: hard work or the crematorium. Eliezer’s father asks about the bathroom and is beaten by the head prisoner. They move from Birkenau to Auschwitz, where they stay for three weeks. Then they are sent on a four-hour walk from Auschwitz to Buna, the camp in which they will be at for months.
This chapter was a big step for Eliezer. He begins questioning things, especially his faith. He cannot understand why things are happening, and why God would let them happen. He even is skeptical about reciting the death prayer. This is important for him, because it is going to be harder to survive when he knows what is happening to him is so wrong.
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