What did Eliezer see in the burning pit/ditch?

Upon
arrival at Birkenau, the reception center for Auschwitz, Elie and his father face the infamous
selection conducted by the "notorious Dr. Mengele." Elie is separated from his mother
and sister who are ultimately led to their deaths in the gas chamber. Luckily, Elie and his
father are approached ahead of time and told to lie about their ages, Elie saying he is 18 and
his father saying he is 40. Both are directed to the left, which some in the crowd interpret as
the path toward the crematory and death.

For a moment, Elie believes it may
be true as he sees flames coming from a ditch. Then he witnesses a truck unloading the bodies of
little children into the fire:

A lorry drew up at the pit
and delivered its loadlittle children. Babies! Yes, I saw itsaw it with my own eyes...those
children in the flames.

A little further on, they see
another burning ditch, possibly for the adults, but only two steps from the pit they are ordered
into the barracks. Apparently, lying about their ages had helped. For Elie, however, the sight
of the burning children thoroughly rattles his faith in God, so much so that he says,
"those moments...murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust."

The burning children are only the beginning of the horrors which Elie will endure for
the next year as he survives two of the most brutal Nazi concentration camps, Auschwitz and
Buchenwald.