Night: Chapter Three

THE BELOVED OBJECTS that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions.

THE BELOVED OBJECTS that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions.

There was a tumult.

It was imperative to stay together.

The man interrogating me was an inmate.

Another inmate appeared, unleashing a stream of invectives:

His tone became even harsher:

His anger changed into fury.

We stood stunned, petrified.

One of them was muttering:

So taught our sages ..."

Standing in the middle of it was, though I didn't know it then, Dr. Mengele, the notorious Dr. Mengele.

He looked like the typical SS officer: a cruel, though not unintelligent, face, complete with monocle.

"Your age?" he asked, perhaps trying to sound paternal.

(Is it any wonder that ever since then, sleep tends to elude me?)

May His name be celebrated and sanctified ..." whispered my father.

We were coming closer and closer to the pit, from which an infernal heat was rising.

May His name be exalted and sanctified .

No. Two steps from the pit, we were ordered to turn left and herded into barracks.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.

So many crazed men, so much shouting, so much brutality.

We trembled in the cold.

If vigor was that appreciated, perhaps one should try to appear sturdy?

Freed from the barbers' clutches, we began to wander about the crowd, finding friends, acquaintances.

We're on the threshold of death.

I was overcome by fatigue.

In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either.

In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either.

In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either.

A glacial wind was enveloping us.

A barrel of foul-smelling liquid stood by the door.

Mountains of prison garb.

Katz, a colossus, wore a child's pants, and Stern, a skinny little fellow, was floundering in a huge jacket.

Katz, a colossus, wore a child's pants, and Stern, a skinny little fellow, was floundering in a huge jacket.

So many events had taken place in just a few hours that I had completely lost all notion of time.

Some people collapsed, sliding into the mud.

I thanked God, in an improvised prayer, for having created mud in His infinite and wondrous universe.

I thanked God, in an improvised prayer, for having created mud in His infinite and wondrous universe.

Suddenly, the silence became more oppressive.

He harangued us from the center of the barrack:

And Auschwitz is not a convalescent home.

The word "chimney" here was not an abstraction; it floated in the air, mingled with the smoke.

The word "chimney" here was not an abstraction; it floated in the air, mingled with the smoke.

As if he wished to ascertain that the person addressing him was actually a creature of flesh and bone, a human being with a body and a belly.

Remorse began to gnaw at me.

Remorse began to gnaw at me.

His cheek still bore the red mark of the hand.

Lulled by the sunshine and my dreams, I felt someone pulling at my sleeve.

The inscription: WARNING!

What irony.

These were the showers, a compulsory routine.

"Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp Auschwitz.

Therefore, muster your strength and keep your faith.

We shall all see the day of liberation.

And now, here is a prayer, or rather a piece of advice: let there be camaraderie among you.

The same smoke hovers over all our heads.

The next morning, the "veteran" inmates treated us without brutality.

The prevailing opinion was that the war was about to end.

After the roll call, the prisoners from all the blocks dispersed, looking for friends, relatives, or neighbors among the arrivals of the latest convoy.

The person looking for us was a small fellow with spectacles in a wizened face.

The person looking for us was a small fellow with spectacles in a wizened face.

He must have barely known him, always being up to his neck in communal affairs and not knowledgeable in family matters.

The bell announced that we were dismissed.

We went to fetch the evening meal: bread and margarine.

At the start of the third week, our Blockalteste was removed; he was judged too humane.

The new one was ferocious and his aides were veritable monsters.

The new one was ferocious and his aides were veritable monsters.

One evening, he came to see us, his face radiant.

I concurred with Job!

Hersh Genud, well versed in Kabbalah, spoke of the end of the world and the coming of the Messiah.

At the gate, the sign proclaimed that work meant freedom.

At least, during all that time, we endured neither shouting nor blows.