The chapter begins with Elie's description of the inside of the cattle cars. "There is almost no air to breathe, the heat is intense, there is no room to sit, and everyone is hungry and thirsty. In their fear, the Jews begin to lose their sense of public decorum. Some men and women begin to flirt openly on the train as though they were alone, while others pretend not to notice" (21). After a few days of traveling in these conditions, the train stops at the border of Czechoslovakia. An officer informs the Jews that if any of them is caught possessing jewelry, gold, and silver, they will be shot and killed, and if a single one of them escapes, everyone in the cattle car will be killed. Madam Schacter, who was separated from her husband and children, loses her sanity and begins to scream that she sees a fire outside. Many of the Jews look through the bars of the cattle car, yet there is no fire in sight. This continues until the Jews grew tired of her. They tried gagging and tying her, but that only worked for a time. She broke free from her bonds, and men on the train beat her until she goes quiet. The next morning, the train stops, and the Jews find out that they have reached Auschwitz station. According to some locals that they bribed, it is a labor camp where they will be treated well and kept together as families. This relieves the Jews, and made them believe that all would be well. The same night, however, Madame Schacter begins to scream again. The men beat her until she went quiet like before. During midnight, the train passes into an area enclosed with barbed fire fences. Through the barred windows, the people in the cattle car see the chimneys of huge furnaces and smell the odor of burning flesh. They had arrived in Birkenau.
No comments:
Post a Comment