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Moishe The Beadle returns to Sighet after surviving a Gestapo attack and warns the town of the Nazi threat.
Moishe the Beadle is a poor man who lives in Sighet. The Jews of Sighet were fond of him due to his kindness. He was also known for his work in the shtibl. Moishe witnesses and narrowly escapes a masscare of Jews by Nazi soldiers. Moishe tries to warn the people of Sighet, but they don't listen to him. After this, he is not seen throughout the entire book. Moishe was right. The Germans then came and secured Sighet.
Pages 6-9 -
Sighet becomes a ghetto and its citizens are sent out on cattle cars to concentration/extermination camps.
After the German Gestapo come and capture Sighet, they turn it into a Jewish ghetto. A ghetto is a part of a city that is dedicated to a certain race or group. If any Jews left the ghetto, they would have been shot. While the Jews are there like sitting ducks, cattle cars are shipping Jews to concentration camps in Germany and other countries in Europe.
Pages 11-12 -
The Weisel family arrive at Birkenau and are split apart.
After a long ride in a cattle car from Sighet, Elie and his family arrive at Birkenau, an extermination camp. Immediately after they get out of the cattle car, they can see the fire pits. Before that, they line up, girls to one side, boys to the other. This Wiesel family is split apart as a result.
Pages 29-30 -
Elie and his father survive Birkenau and are sent to Auschwitz
After barely escaping death at the crematorium, they are sent to barracks for the night. Around 5:00 in the morning, the German officers make all the Jews run to Auschwitz, a concentration camp, where they worked. Elie does not know if his mother or sisters survived.
Pages 32-34 -
Elie and his father survive Auschwitz and are sent to Buna.
Elie and his father did not spend much time at Auschwitz, only three weeks. Auschwitz was probably the easiest camp for the Jews that survived the fire pits. After the three weeks, they are sent to a much harder camp, Buna. They have no idea what they are in for.
Pages 40-44 -
Three inmates, inclusing a small boy, are caught defying the Nazis are hanged. Man is shot making a run for unattended soup cauldrons. Pages 61-65
While in Buna, there are many displays of cruelty by the Nazis. One example is when the Nazis left two cauldrons of soup in the middle of the Appelplatz. One Jew tried to get some soup while no one was watching. Once he looked inside, he screamed and was shot on the spot. Another example is when the Nazis hung three inmates. While this was a common thing in Buna, these three included a small boy. He was a pipel, or a servant boy. The inmates weep at the sight and question their faith. -
Elie's father is chosen for selection but manages to avoid death.
While Elie and his father are at Buna, they are forced to go through a physical test, or selection. While Elie passes with flying colors, his father is not so lucky. He is chosen to die with the next group. Some of the inmates are enraged with their selection and they cause a commotion. Amid the chaos, Elie and his father slip through the crowd to group of people who passed selection.
Pages 95-97 -
Elie and his father evacuate Buna along with every other healthy inmate as the Russian military closes in. After a brief stay in Gleiwitz, they are sent to Buchenwald.
While Elie and his father are at Buna, they have different jobs to perform. As the Germans fear that the Russians will get to the camp, the Jews are forced to go to the next concentration camp, Buchenwald.
Pages 98-104 -
Elie's father dies.
While Elie is in Buchenwald, his father is deathly ill, and only getting worse. Diagnosed with dysentery, his father could not relieve himself outdoors, making the other inmates angry. The other inmates beat him multiple times. Even the SS beat him to be quiet. He was eventually taken to the crematorium, or so Elie suspects. His father may have still been alive when he was sent there. Elie was ashamed of himself because he had a feeling of relief.
Pages 107-112 -
Buchenwald is liberated by American and resistance forces.
After Elie's father dies, Elie is goes on in the camp as he usually would. But later on, American soldiers invade the camp and help liberate the camp. They saved all the Jews there. After Elie was sent to the hospital, he looked in the mirror for the first time and noted his lifeless demeanor.
Pages 113-115
