Chapter 2 Night

The cattle car with eighty people was a very full and tight space. The Jews traveled for two days before the train stopped, then were informed they were under the control of the German army. During this stop the army men asked for all gold, silver, and watches. The trip continued. The cattle car had a sick woman who was with her son. The woman continued to scream about fire and flames. People on the train hit her and tied her down and gagged her. Many times during the trip she screamed about fire and flames.

The trained stopped next in Auschwitz. Here the Jews were given water. They were told that they were going to a labor camp which had good conditions. The train began to move again until arriving at the work camp- Birkenau. The lady began to scream fire again. This time everyone could see flames and smell burning flesh. They were all ordered off the train.

The people in the cattle car were not sure where they were going. They continued to think that the work camp had good conditions until they arrived. Once they arrived they saw the flames and smelt burning skin that must have been an awful shock. The lady they all thought was crazy was seeing what was to come.

The Jews being loaded into the cattle cars

Chapter 1 Night

The story begins in 1941 in a town called Sighet in Transylvania and Elie was 13. He wanted to learn about Kabbalah which ventures into an area of mysticism. A very poor man named Moshe the Beadle helped him. Elie believed Moshe would help him enter eternity. Moshe was a foreigner and was deported by the Hungarian police. The train and Moshe disappeared. Weeks and months went by and life got back to normal in Sighet. One day went Elie went to Synagogue Moshe was sitting nearby. He told Elie what happened when the deportees crossed into Poland and the Gestapo took over. Moshe was able to escape after being shot in the leg and left to die. Moshe shared what he had seen. He saw the deportees dig huge trenches, babies tossed on the air for target practice, and they shot the deportees as they approached the trench. No one believed Moshe. It was the end of 1942 and life was back to normal until the spring of 1944.

In 1944 it was apparent that the Germans were approaching. The Germans came and stayed with families in Sighet, even the Jewish families. During Passover the Jews were restricted to one of two ghettos inside of Sighet. Life slowly returned to normal within the ghetto. One morning the Jewish police ordered everyone out of their house, a part of the group was taken away. Elie’s family remained until the rest of the group would be taken. It was only a few days before they were ordered into the street under the hot sun. They were moved to the smaller ghetto. Some people thought that when they moved the next time it might be a vacation. Elie’s family was deported on a Saturday, the Sabbath. People were placed in cattle cars with eighty in each car. The wheels began to roll and they were on our way.

The chapter was good when it captured the daily life before the Jews were deported. It showed how the people were very optimistic. They forgot the bad things like those deported first. They also thought their travels in the cattle cars might be like a vacation. They gave up everything they had because the Hungarian police made them. Instead of dying they followed directions not sure what the future would hold. They should’ve listened to Moshe.