Night: Chapter Four

THE CAMP looked as though it had been through an epidemic: empty and dead.

(In fact, this affection was not entirely altruistic; there existed here a veritable traffic of children among homosexuals, I learned later.)

"You will stay with me for three days in quarantine.

One of his aides—a tough-looking boy with shifty eyes—came over to me:

For a pittance: your shoes.

On the other hand, the dentist seemed more conscientious: he asked me to open my mouth wide.

He made us halt at the door of the first block, near the entrance to the camp.

Then the conductor's baton stopped moving and the orchestra fell silent.

Juliek, a Pole with eyeglasses and a cynical smile in a pale face.

Louis, a native of Holland, a well-known violinist.

Hans, the young man from Berlin, was full of wit.

A German employee, a civilian, the Meister, came to meet us.

River and the majestic sanctity of Jerusalem.

River and the majestic sanctity of Jerusalem.

Their parents, like mine, had not had the courage to sell everything and emigrate while there was still time.

Still lost in his Kabbalistic dreams, Akiba Drumer had discovered a verse from the Bible which, translated into numbers, made it possible for him to predict Redemption in the weeks to come.

Still lost in his Kabbalistic dreams, Akiba Drumer had discovered a verse from the Bible which, translated into numbers, made it possible for him to predict Redemption in the weeks to come.

Whenever he could, he would "organize" a cauldron of soup for the young, for the weak, for all those who dreamed more of an extra portion of food than of liberty.

ONE DAY, when we had just returned from the warehouse, I was summoned by the block secretary :

When he opened his mouth, one had a ghastly vision of yellow, rotten teeth.

He granted me a further delay.

Perhaps even less: a famished stomach.

As I bit my lips in order not to howl with pain, he must have mistaken my silence for defiance and so he continued to hit me harder and harder.

She was smiling her mournful smile as she slipped me a crust of bread.

We spent the whole evening reminiscing.

At the depot, nobody knew that I spoke German; it would have aroused suspicion.

It was imprudent of me to say those few words to you, but I knew that you would not betray me ..."

Idek was on edge, he had trouble restraining himself.

Why couldn't he have avoided Idek's wrath?

That presented Franek with the opportunity to torment him and, on a daily basis, to thrash him savagely.

That presented Franek with the opportunity to torment him and, on a daily basis, to thrash him savagely.

It was untenable.

This sudden enthusiasm for work astonished us.

When I reached the back of the building, I heard sounds coming from a small adjoining room.

Two more, I thought, half unconscious.

I came to when they doused me with cold water.

He would be suffering more than I. "Listen to me, you son of a swine!" said Idek coldly.

As it was relatively easy to escape during an alert—the guards left the watchtowers and the electric current in the barbed wire was cut—the standing order to the SS was to shoot anyone found outside his block.

Either out of weakness or out of fear, he remained there, undoubtedly to muster his strength.

Falling to the ground, his face stained by the soup, the man writhed a few seconds at the base of the cauldron, and then he was still.

We had to dispose of it outside the camp.

ONE WEEK LATER, as we returned from work, there, in the middle of the camp, in the Appelplatz, stood a black gallows.

His manacled hands did not tremble.

He was about to signal his aides to pull the chair from under the young man's feet when the latter shouted, in a strong and calm voice:

Gestapo, summoned to inspect the damage, concluded that it was sabotage.

One day, as we returned from work, we saw three gallows, three black ravens, erected on the Appelplatz.

The SS surrounding us, machine guns aimed at us: the usual ritual.

The SS seemed more preoccupied, more worried, than usual.

In unison, the nooses were placed around their necks.

His voice quivered.