In chapter 5, Elie is celebrating the New Years. Some of the members also want to fast the next day but it could be fatal, they are basically fasting year round with their soup and not eating it one day can cause death. Elie wasn't allowed to fast and he didn't want to because he didn't believe in God. However, he felt like he was getting lonelier each time he got farther away from God. Elie had also been changed to the construction job which isn't good because they work harder and have a higher possibility of becoming weak. The SS also announced that they were having another selection; this brought fear to Elie. His father was becoming weak and he had a possibility of being selected for the gas chambers. the day of the selection came and it seemed that both Elie and his father were safe. However, a few days later, Elie's father came running towards him and told him that he had been selected. He immediately gave Elie his spoon and knife, it was the only thing that he had and it was to become Elie's heritage. Elie was sad and fearful that his father wouldn't pass the other selection. He headed to work and couldn't stop thinking about his father. But he was met with a surprise, his dad was still in the camp. He had survived and Elie gave him the spoon and knife back. Winter came, the temperatures were low but they still had to work the 12 hours which we really hard. Elie's foot had pus and he had trouble walking, so he headed to the infirmary. He was treated nicely there but the man told him that they had more selections here. Which made Elie worry, he had a higher possibility of being sent to the gas chambers if he stayed longer. The doctor said that Elie had to stay two weeks in the infirmary to be fully cured.
In my opinion, the concentration camp conditions seem unreal. I don't know which person would let thousands of people work in the freezing cold without the proper attire. That death seems worse than the gas chambers and I'm surprised that many of them were surviving in those conditions. The selections also bring fear upon me because you never know in which line you are placed. You have 50% of going to work again or the gas chambers. The selections must have been horrible because many were killed from those and families were separated. Choices in the camp seem hard too. You can only care about yourself and your survival. Elie is in a dilemma, he can leave the infirmary earlier and work but has the change of getting his leg amputated or he waits the two weeks but suffers the risk of being selected for the gas chambers. Choices were hard and most of the time the prisoners didn't win anything in return.
You did a great job on your blog post Alexandra. You had a good summary at the beginning and it was very thorough. To me, the concentration camps also seem unreal just like you said. It is almost impossible to believe that people would do things like let people die right in front of them in the freezing cold. I am agree with you when you say that it is surprising that they survived for such a long time in the concentration camps. Overall, good job on your blog post. I enjoyed reading it very much.
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