Dialectical Journals - Night

"There are eighty of you in this wagon, added the German officer.  If anyone is missing, you'll be all shot like dogs. . . ."

When the Germans took the Jews they used many wagons to transport them to the camps. In this wagon there are eighty Jews, and this is only one of the many wagons used. When the officer said if you are missing then you'll all be shot like dogs it showed just how little the Jews lives mattered to the Germans. They would shoot all of them like nothing, and probably just repeat the process again and again.

"The fire! The furnace! Look, over there! . . ."

When Madame Schächter said this multiple times it showed just how paranoid and horrified the Jews were. Her son was holding on tightly to his mom and didn't let go. The fire she was talking about didn't exist when she was shouting out "The fire! The furnace!" but as the Jews got closer to the camp they smelt burning flesh and saw exactly what Madame Schächter was talking about. It was a huge chimney its fire shooting out of it. This was where they are burning the Jews.

"Men to the left! Women to the right!"

When Elizier heard this he knew that he would be separated from his mother and sister. He went to the left with his dad and other young men. At this time he knew that this was the last time that he would ever see his mom and sister again. The right was where women and young children went, while the men went to the left because they would be working and doing the labor intensive work. For many families this was the goodbye forever.

"You're in a concentration camp. At Auschwitz. . . ."

When the Jews were placed in the camps many didn't know what they were doing in the barb wire enclosed facilities. But when those very words were spoken it was like getting punched right in the face. Auschwitz was one of the worst camps that the Germans put Jews into. It was where millions died from getting shot, inhaling gas, starving, and other inhumane acts. Most people who entered Auschwitz never walked through those gates again.

"Work is liberty!"

If the Jews that were placed inside the concentration camps refused to work or slacked off the punishment would be death. Immediately. If they ever wanted to be set free they needed to work. The work they were forced to do wasn't easy. It involved back breaking labor intensive jobs. Such as mining, digging, moving heavy objects, cleaning out the dead carcasses of your fellow friends and so much more cruel jobs.