It is sad to hear the poor conditions for the Jews who had to travel in the cattle cars. Elie says "Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down. We decided to take turns sitting. THere was little air." I know I could not take it sitting in close quarters with little air. And worse, this trip lasted two days. At the end of the trip was when the optimists realized there was nothing to look forward to at the end of the trip. he says "Our eyes opened. Too late." pg. 23
Elie met a certain woman during his journey named Mrs. Schachter. The separation of her from her husband and sons had totally shattered. Throughout the journey she began crying at "Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!" At first, everyone thought she had gone crazy like Moishe. After awhile, I believed that she something that the others did not like Moishe.
After stopping at Auschwitz to refuel, the convoy began to move again and reached Birkenau. By that time Mrs. Schacther once again urged her fellow companions to "Look at the fire! Look at the flames!" This time, they did see the flames rising from a large chimney nearby. Elie describes the exit from the train like this. "In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh." Now the others could fully comprehend Mrs. Schacther. I think that she must have known ahead of time on what would happen to her fellow Jews. This is probably where optimism was swept away from everyone.
3 comments:
Brian I like the way you used quotes from the book in your summary. It really shows the darkness of the holocaust in an even darker view(if thats possible).
You did a good job of including your insight into the summary of this chapter. This also included quotes from the entire chapter, which helped summarize the chapter. Good work.
The quote in the beginning was a good start in describing what the Jews were going through. The summary of th e reading was very detailed. Well Done.
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