In the seventh
chapter of this novel, Elie and his fellow prisoners board a train car following a two night
long, freezing cold death march from Buna to Gleiwitz, as well as three additional days
afterward in which no food or drink are distributed. Prior to boarding the train, the prisoners
are given one ration of bread, which they consume along with spoonfuls of snow after spending
the majority of an entire week with little or no food, despite having run almost 80 kilometers
on foot.
The prisoners board the train in Poland and spend ten more days and
nights with no food, while en route to Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. While the train
is stopped, a crowd of German spectators throw pieces of bread into train cars to watch the
starving passengers fight one another for the chance to eat. Elie witnesses an old man who has
hidden a piece of bread under his shirt being tackled and crushed by his son while attempting to
take a bite. The man's heart-wrenching words to his son read...
No comments:
Post a Comment