Arrival at Auschwitz

When the Jews arrived at Birkenau, they were treated with the highest disrespect. They were yelled at by inmates and SS officers, and they were herded like cattle; the most inhumane things happened during this time. The sorting process separated families, with Elie's mother and sister, Tzipora, being separated permanently from himself and his father. This would be the last time they would see each other in person. They were also forced to run around outside naked, and their showers and cleaning periods were brief, and order was kept through ferocity, with SS guards killing and punishing anyone who stepped out of place. Their last day at Birkenau came, and a man in a white coat, a doctor, Josef Mengele, told them that they were to be taken to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they would be staying.

When they got to Auschwitz, they were treated as if they were humans again. The people were nice, and rations were more plentiful than they were in Birkenau. They were not made to work, but to eat, sleep, and even people came by to talk to the prisoners. The person who came to talk to Elie was a relative from Antwerp, Belgium named Stein. The evenings were as nice as the days. The people spoke of hope, and of an end to the war, and their freedom as well. The next day, the Jews were rounded up and marched to a new camp, Buna. As they walked, German citizens looked at them with normal looks, as well as not spitting mean remarks. When they got to Buna, the door closed, and the iron gate closed behind them.

This chapter really provided us with insight on what concentration camps were like. They were like worse prisons. Yes, there was death and atrocities committed, but if there were less guards, there was more civility. Birkenau had a lot of guards, and therefore had a lot of anarchy within the walls. These prisons still had terrible behind-the-scenes things though. I think that the cleanliness and the calmness of the guards and the Kommando were just a sign of a false sense of security and hope for the people to be killed in the gas chambers later, as if they were to walk in there willingly.