"There was a woman among us, a certain Mrs. Schachter. She was in her fifties and her ten-year-old son was with her, crouched in a corner. Her husband and two older sons had been deported with the first transport, by mistake. The separation had totally shattered her." Today in religion we watched a movie about the Holocaust. I specifically remembered one woman who was about 10 around the time of the ordeal. When she got on the cattle car for her deportation from her home to the concentration camp, she saw her father. When she and the rest of the people she was traveling with got of the car her father was no where to be found. She never saw him again. I cant even imagine losing a loved one without the idea of even knowing what happened to them. No body, no nothing. It makes it seem as if they simply disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Obviously the woman from the movie survived to tell her tale and it didnt appear that she had completely lost her mind. Unfortunately, Mrs. Schachter wasnt as lucky. On the third night since the disappearance of her family, she claimed to a see a monstrapolous fire in the field just outside the train. When the rest of the captives looked to see the "fire" all they saw was the darkness of night. If you think you cant stand your parents now, think about if they were going mad. Maybe we shouldnt be as sorry for the mother as we are for her son. He is only 10 and has not yet found his place in the world (and with what is to come may never find it). It is likely that he will never see his brothers and dad again not to mention his mother has completely lost it.
I think the most startling fact of this book so far is the fact that Elie is being taken to Auschwitz. Yes it is completely remarkable that Elie survived this terrible ordeal in the first place but it is simply astounding that he survived Auschwitz. It is estimated that more than 1.25 million people wre brutally killed at the death camp. I find the initial reaction of the people onboard the train quite ironic. "There was a labor camp on site. The conditions were good. Families would not be separated. Only the young would work in the factories. The old and the sick would find work in the fields. Confidence soared. Suddenly we felt free of the previous nights' terror. We gave thanks to God." If only they knew what lied instore for them here......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNhFxV79_Kc
Could the train tracks at the beginning be the ones that Elie found himself on?
1 comment:
The relation of information from the book to your knowledge from school was good. The quote in the beginning was a good way to start the summary since it deals with the main character and main events in the section. Your description of the conditions on the camp was very detailed. Good job.
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