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Prisoners Arrive at Birkenau
The train arrives at Birkenau and they finally realize the horror that awaits them. This marks the last time Elie would see his mother and his sister, Tzipora. -
Prisoner Registration
They are forced to "get ready" for the concentration camp, by being selected, stripped of their clothes, having their heads shaved, disinfected, and were given their new clothes. -
Arrival at Auschwitz
Elie and his father arrive at Auschwitz and are assigned to their blocks. They are given their tattoos and become numbers. Elie becomes A-7713. -
Transfer to Buna
After three weeks in Auschwitz, Elie and his father are moved to Buna. The camp was empty and they were given new clothing. All the inmates agree that it was a good camp. They were all assigned to a block, a job, and a Kommando. -
The Removal of the Gold Crown
Elie agrees to have the gold crown taken out to stop Franek from beating his father. Elie also had to give up his ration of bread to Franek because he made him wait. The tooth is removed with a rusty spoon. -
Elie is Punished
Idek punishes Elie for mixing in his affairs. He tells him to lay on his belly in front of the prisoners to teach them all a lesson. Idek whips him 25 times and Elie passes out during the violent punishment. -
Buna Bombing
One Sunday, sirens went off in the camp and the prisoners had to hide in their blocks while the SS took shelter. The soup was left out and one prisoner made an attempt to get to it and he died as a result. The planes were bombing the Buna factories. The raid lasted an hour. -
The Hanging
When the pipel is hung in front of the prisoners, it is the first time they have seen a child hung, He is punished for not providing information about his Oberkapo. He is so young and small that it takes half an hour for him to die. The prisoners question God after seeing this. -
Selection
Selections will happen and Elie and his father are almost separated. Elie's father offers him his knife and spoon if he does not make the selection. This is all he has left to give his son. Elie is relieved when his father makes it through selection and they can stay together. -
Akiba Drumer Dies
Akiba Drumer does not make it through the selection. He was one of the strongest men, but he no longer was able to keep his faith in God and he welcomed death. He asked the men to pray Kaddish for him. -
Elie's Operation
Elie begins to feel pain in his foot and he is sent to the hospital. The doctor tells him he will need an operation and will rest for two weeks. Elie enjoys the rest from the camp, but he is told by the faceless man that he cannot escape selection there. His operation is done while he is awake and he passed out during it. It is a successful operation. -
A Difficult Decision
Before Elie can heal from his operation, him and his father have to make a decision to stay in the hospital while the liberators come closer or march with the other prisoners. They decide staying is risky because they could be easily killed so they march with the other prisoners. Later, Elie would learn that if they had stayed they would have been liberated only two days later. -
The March Begins
Elie and his father begin the march away from the camp as the liberators were closing in. It was really cold and Elie did not have a proper shoe for his foot. The pain was agonizing. Many prisoners were dying on the way. Many were trampled if they could not keep up. -
Arrival at Gleiwitz
Finally the march is over and they can rest in the cold. The prisoners trampled each other to get a spot to rest. Elie loses his father for a moment and later finds him and Juliek. Juliek plays his violin and dies the next morning. They stayed here for three days.
