A.,+Leva

DJE for pg. 81 -109: pg. 82: “My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me....He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, at his wit’s end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support.”

pg. 87:”A terrible thought loomed in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of his father! He had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near and had sought the separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival.”

pg. 99: “I held unto my father’s hand-the old familiar fear: not to lose him.”

pg. 105: “Listen to me boy. Don’t forget that your’e in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not to think of anyone else. Even of his father. Here, there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.”

Reaction: I chose these quotations because they were all very powerful and made you really think about how life was in the concentration camps. It made you open your eyes to what people had to go through.

Pages #63-80 German controls over things: 1. What are the acts that show the German's are trying to be in control? a. Page #66:“He told us that evening that no one would be allowed to go out after the evening soup. And soon a terrible word was circulating- selection. We knew what that meant. An SS man would examine us. When ever he found a weak one, he would write his number down: good for the crematory. b. Page #77: “At 4:00 in the afternoon of the same day, as usual the bell summoned all the heads of the blocks to go and report. They came back shattered. They could only just open their lips enough the say the word: evacuation.”

Jewish controls over things: 2. What are the acts that show the Jew's are trying to be in control? a. Page #74: A lot of rumors went around from prisoners the camp to try and scare some of the other prisoners. This is showing that these prisoners were trying to control other people. “Near me lay a Hungarian Jew. 'You mustn't rejoice too soon, my boy. There is selection hear too. More often than outside. Germany doesn't need sick Jews. Germany doesn't need me. When the next transport comes, you will have a new neighbor. So listen to me, and take my advice: get out out of the hospital before the next selection!'” b. Page #78: “He was lost in thought. The choice was in our hands. For once we could decided our fate for ourselves. We could both stay in the hospital. Or we could follow the others.”

Reactions: 1.a. Reading this part made me very nervous. It also made me ashamed that there were people in our history that did not act civilized and acted as if they were so powerful that they decided who would live or not live. 1.b. I don't believe that it is fair that the officers just move the prisoners from place to place like they are cargo. 2.a. I think that the people who were spreading the rumors were just afraid of themselves and didn't want to be the only ones. 2.b. I think that having to make that decision was very hard. It would be very nerve wracking to not know which place would be the safer and better place to stay. That which ever side you chose had a life or death situation.

pages 45 – 62 Acts of kindness AND Acts of brutality 1. What are the acts of kindness? a. When Elie was moved to another warehouse to work he asked if he could work next to his father and the officer said that he could. - pg.48 b. After his brutal attack a girl said, “Bit your lip, little brother.... Don't cry. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, for later on. The day will come, but not now.... Wait. Grit your teeth and wait....” - pg.51

What are the acts of brutality? a. “One day when Idek was seized with one of his fits of frenzy, I got in his was. He leapt on me, like a wild animal, hitting me in the chest, on the head, throwing my down, and picking me up again, his blows growing more and more violent, until I was covered with blood. As I was bitting my lips to stop my self to stop from screaming with pain, he must have taken my silence for defiance, for he went on hitting me harder. - pg. 50 b. One time one of the German soldiers said to Elie's father,”You lazy old devil! You call that work!” - pg. 52 c. One time when Elie was in the wrong place at the wrong time this is what happen,”'An ordinary prisoner has no right to meddle into other people's affairs. One of you does not seem to have understood this. I am obliged, therefore, to make it very clear to him once and for all.' 'A-7713!' I came forward. 'A box!' He ordered. The brought him a box. 'Lie down on it! On your stomach!' I obeyed. Then I was aware of nothing but the strokes of the whip.” - pg. 55

Reactions: 1.a. I thought it was nice that the officer let him work next to his father. this is because usually the officers thought it was better for the prisoners to be away from their family members. 1.b. My reaction to this is that the girl was extremely kind. Elie could have screamed and fought back but the girl helped him in a way so he would just relax and save his anger for something more important that would come in the future.

2.a. I believe that this act was absolutely unnecessary because Elie was not pestering or harassing him at all. The Idek should not have attacked Elie. 2.b. To tell one of the prisoners that is working as hard as they can this is not acceptable. They are doing work for the officers and yelling and insulting them will not help. Yelling at Elie's father did no good in making him move faster or want to work harder. 2.c. I am appalled that the officer did this. The person that is in the wrong is the officer that Elie saw. The officer Should not have been doing what he was doing at that time and the officer should have got a private room to do this.  DJE - pgs. 27-44:  *"Bela Katz-son of a big tradesman from our town had arrived at Birkenau with the first transport, a weeks before us. When he heard of our arrival he managed to get a word to us that, having been chosen for his strength, he himself put his father's body in to the crematory oven." pg. 33
 * What are the specific acts, events, and ideas that destroy faith?**
 * When the general said, "Poor devils, you're going to the crematory." pg. 30
 * One of the townspeople who saw Elie crying came to him and said, "'Don't cry Yechiel', I said. 'Not cry? We're on the threshold of death...Soon we shall have crossed over ....Don't you understand? How could I not cry?' He said." pg. 33
 * Elie had an awful feeling. "It was no longer possible to grasp anything. The instincts of self-preservation, of self-defense, of pride, had all deserted us." pg. 38


 * What are the specific acts, events and ideas that rekindle faith?**
 * "One of the young men cried: 'You must never lose faith, Eve3n when the sword hangs over your head. That's the teachings of our sages." pg. 29
 * "A general said, "There's a long road of suffering ahead of you. But don't lose courage. now muster your strength, and don't lose heart. We shall see the day of liberation. Have faith in life. Above all else, have faith. Drive out despair, and you will keep death away from yourselves." pg. 38

My reaction: When reading this chapter, it was sad to think about how many tried so hard to destroy the faith of many Jewish believers. However, it's very interesting how some of the Jewish victims still kept their faith despite the many series of torture they encountered.

for pgs. 21-26 Who is Madame Schachter? AND What happens to her?

Who is Madame Schachter? Madame Schachter is a 50 year old Jewish women who rides in the same car as Elie Wiesel to the concentration camp.

What happens to her? Being separated by her husband and sons makes her extremely sad and so she had cried most of the ride. Throughout the journey she had cried out that there was a fire, however no one else could see it. This event occured several times despite the heavy strikes she would get for being so loud and disruptive.

DJE #1: What are the signs of trouble?
 * The Jews in Budapost lived in a fearful atomosphere.
 * On the 7th day of passover, the Germans arrested the Jewish officers.
 * The Jews were not able to leave their house for 3 days.
 * A group of Hungarian policemen burst into all the Jewish houses on the street.
 * The Jews could no longer keep their gold, jewely, or any objects of value.
 * Every Jew had to wear the yellow star.
 * They were put into ghettos.

How did the Jews of Sighet react?
 * Jews of Sighet thought that the Germans wouldn't oppose any threat to them in the beginning. But after the signs of trouble, they began to get scared and afraid for what's going to happen next.

My reaction: When reading this chapter, I was very upset about how the German Nazi's treated the Jews and it's sad that people in our history were that careless and unfair.

Have you ever experienced a time where you were tortured, hurt, and torn apart? A time where you were far away from your loved ones. Have you ever experienced a fear like not knowing if you would live or not, if you would see your parents or sibillings ever again? These are the feelings that the young children of the holocaust had to go through. These photos that were tooken at the time of the holocaust are significant to understand because these young children had experienced this fear at such a young age. Not only that, but the mother of these young children would never see them grow. Unfortunately these kids’ lives were taken in soon after they came to the concentration camp just because of their religion, and the fact that they weren’t apart of the aryan race. Having to live that fear of not being able to see their family, of not being able to live at a young age is such a hard thing for a child to live through. The experience that the people had to go through during the holocaust cannot be compared to anything because of how horrible they were treated. Today in life, in Darfur, Sudan, the women and children are being treated badly.