Period 5
3-18-13
Pages 85-103
Summary: The men are evacuated because the Russian front is advancing towards them. The men are forced to march twenty kilometers before they are allowed to stop near a shed and Elie and his father keep each other awake. Elie is worried that he will abandon his weak father because of his own will to stay alive. They arrive in Gleiwitz and Elie meets his old friend Juliek and he plays the violin. They stay in Gleiwitz for three days and the men are boarded on trains- 100 men per car. The men received no food and fought violently over pieces of bread passerby in towns threw in. Elie is sleeping when someone starts to choke and he is saved by his father and Meir Katz. The men have no strength left and all of them begin to wail and cry and that night they arrive in Buchenwald, only 12 men remain in the cart.
Quotation: "The lament spread from wagon to wagon. It was contagious. And now hundreds of cries rose at once. The death rattle of an entire convoy with the end approaching. All boundaries had been crossed. Nobody had any strength left. And the night seemed endless.
Quotation Significance: The men have been stuck on this wagon for days without food. They only have access to snow for water. The men are so exhausted and tired that they have no more will to live. They feel like giving up and they all cry and moan together, and the endless night is full of misery and sadness for them.
Reflection: In this section of the book, the men are forced to leave Buna because the Russians are coming. Elie wants to be with his father and chooses not to stay in the infirmary. Elie is having trouble staying behind with his father and he doesn't want to die with him. Elie describes various stories where men abandon their fathers in order to save themselves. Elie understands that they only want to survive and if their father is in their way, then they will sacrifice their fathers. But on the otherhand, Elie loves his father and his father needs him and he couldn't possibly hurt his father and let him die. Elie also knows that his father is the only person that he has left. On the march to Gleiwitz, Elie almost feels like giving up but he knows that he must go on to give support to his father, who would have given up if it wasn't for him. On the train, all the men almost give up. They have no food and only 12 of the 100 men survive. They are exposed to extreme weather conditions and they are forced to fight for crumbs of food. The Germans seem to have no pity or mercy for the Jews. It deeply sickens me how they could simply ignore this and not feed the men.
Discussion Question: How has the journey to Buchenwald affected Elie and his feelings about his father?
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