Monday, February 14, 2011

Chapter 7 (pages 98-103): Arrival

There were 100 men on the train bound for Buchenwald. How many actually arrived alive?

15 comments:

  1. This was by far the most... disgusting chapter of the book. Elie and his father have somehow shown superhuman strength in being able to survive, quite simply, Hell, and this segment of their journey was nearly the end for his father. Sure, the Jews have been beaten, massacured, worked to death, starved, frozen... everything under the sun... but they've been able to stay mentally strong. Now, finally, the German's harsh treatment is finally taking its' toll. There was a battle royale for a mouthful of bread... a son killed his father for food, and was torn to pieces soon afterward. Elie was nearly strangled himself, and Meir Katz finally has broken, despite being the most stalwart of them all. It's like Trumpkin said in the 2008 film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" - "You get treated like a dumb animal long enough, it's what you become." The Jews are finally reaching their breaking points, and most of them did not survive this newest train voyage. While 100 men boarded... only twelve got off, and even then, they were on their breaking point as well. Things have to get better soon... Elie and his father seriously won't hold out for much longer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Even though a 100 men got on the train, only a few dozens got off. The circumstances on the train is so terrible; son murders his own father for a crumb of bread. This was one of the parts of the book that really struck me as incredible. His father believed that he was making a mistake but with a swift blow, he ended his own fathers life. The people on the train became so hungry that they started eating the snow off of their neighbors back. When crumbs of bread is thrown into the train, a wild fight breaks out; prisoner against prisoner, for mere morsels of bread. This chapter really showed the brinks of human
    insanity.

    -Julieth Udozorh

    ReplyDelete
  3. Twelve out of a hundred people surviving means that only 12% of the Jews on the train managed to live while the other 88% met their deaths. To think that a hundred men would be put into these trains, given no food or water, laid bare to the bitter cold of winter, suffering from exhaustion and fatigue makes me feel terrible inside. No one deserves to be put through such a painful journey. In a way, this train ride was like a death camp in itself. So many people died without the help of the selection or SS men. They fought each other over crumbs, and one person even tried to strangle Elie for no apparent reason. The worst part, I believe, is that the German workmen "took a lively interest" when the prisoners started killing each other for food (95). It as though the Germans tried to ignore the fact that these Jews were human beings! They saw them as entertainment, as if they were watching animals fight for a piece of meat.
    -Sonya

    ReplyDelete
  4. Only twelve out of a hundred people made it alive from the train. This incident wasn't very unlikely to happen looking at the conditions. The train was designed and built for a lot smaller number than one hundred people. The germans wanted to make everything very efficient and cram packed the Jews into the train without even taking consideration or any though in how the comfort would be. Not to forget the blistering cold during the winter in central Europe. There was no food, no water, and no bathroom. This train ride went on for days depending on from where the train came. People urinated and might have committed over each other and they had to bear with the environment. Escaping, wasn't an issue for the Nazi's any prisoner/Jew was immediately to be shot if he was to jump out of the train.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So a train starts its journey full with one hundred passengers, but at the very last stop there are only twelve people arriving at their final destination. This is unbelievable, but it was bound to happen. These men were taking a ten day journey with no food or water, the train car had no roof so snow was just pouring in, and some people were already dead. No food or water would cause malnutrition and the body would no function properly. There was no roof so snow came in, the only thing they each had was a blanket, and eventually the blanket would get wet and would cease to keep them warm. They wet blanket causes people to get sick, maybe sick enough to die. This dead body will only disappear when the train stops, so until then it will just cause others to get sick. The very thought of even arriving with one hundred people is impossible.
    -Nancy Joykutty

    ReplyDelete
  6. Out of one hundred Jewish men only 12 survived from Elie's car. The cramped up car of one hundred tired, savage men ended up turning into a car full of dead bodies. What more could someone expect from a ten day journey with no food, water, warmth, or space. The inhumane German passersby didn't make it any better. The amusement they gained by throwing bread into the carts destroyed the last bits of humanity the prisoners had. Their savage behavior ended the lives of fellow prisoners. The fear of being selected or of being mistreated by SS men was lost and the uncontrollable desire for food took over.The prisoners were not seen as human beings by the people that took everything they had away from them but they no longer acted as human beings either. At this point the Jews had lost everything.

    Evelyn M.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I do not like to watch scary movies or read books that have such hurting words because it makes me sad. This chapter is the utmost disgusting chapter of the book, but also surprising (and it makes me sicker than ever). The most surprising and tear-jerking moment was when a boy murdered his own father for a crumb. I believe he regretted his decision when he later got torn to bits and pieces.

    I could never truly believe that only twelve out of one-hundred total people on the train cars survived by the end of the trip. I would think they are super humans because they were "lucky" enough to survive the terrible fights and inhumane conditions. I'm not even sure if they were labeled lucky or unlucky. Were they lucky because they survived? Or were they unlucky because of the horror they had to endure in the concentration camps because they survived? I think either way most of them were staring Death right in the face.
    -Saphira

    ReplyDelete
  8. Two simple sentences, two hugely impacting sentences that brought disgust to my heart, “A hundred of us had got into the wagon. A dozen of us got out–among them, my father and I.” The conditions that these men were in were enough to kill them. Their needs were ignored just like they had been since they got to the camp. In the SS soldier’s eyes these people were not people, they were animals, so it didn’t matter whether they survived or not, the less of them that kept on, the better. My mind does not have the capacity to understand how people could be so heartless, how a another human being could fall to the ground dead from hunger, exhaustion, or fear in front of their eyes and they could turn around as if nothing. It is unbelievable how one hundred people could start a journey, but only twelve survive. This shows the life that these unfortunate people were being put through. Such malignant people disgust me.
    -Cecilia

    ReplyDelete
  9. Because of the conditions that these men were traveling in, and the circumstances, only a dozen or so men were able to actually get off of the train-cart. They were traveling in uncovered wagons in Germany in the winter time. They were covered in snow and didn't have anything else to eat other than the snow itself. By the time that they arrived at their destination, the men that didn't get off the train were either killed by one of their fellow prisoners, or just died because they could live through the weather. They could have already been sick or fighting their fate with death before they even got on the cart in the first place. The prisoners that got were probably the healthiest amongst themselves, of course with a few exceptions. Elie's father had almost been thrown off during one of the short stops to unload the dead people. He was frozen in time and space and was on the brink of death there and then. I was surprised he lasted as long as he did. However, Elie fought and yelled at him until he showed signs of life. It was there that i think Elie realized that his father wouldn't make it much longer, he just wouldn't except it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. One hundred men boarded the train...and only twelve stepped off. Given the conditions that these people were kept in, it seems as though this ratio was intentional. No food or water in an uncovered train in the dead of winter can only lead to one thing: death. It really is a wonder as to how Elie and his father managed to survive such a horrendous journey. Other prisioners aboard the train were also growing mentally insane. When the by standers threw bread at them as some sort of a sick game, they were willing to kill one another; even their own flesh and blood. The thought of such a concept makes me see the true flaws in humanity. Actual people (the Nazis) were willing to do such things to other human beings. Arriving with the origional one hundred in Buchenwald was never possible by any stretch of the imagination, and the Nazis were fully aware of this.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I really think that it was very fortunate that Elie and his father survived out of the 100 men. The others died because of no stength, little food and drink plus the conditions in the wagon. I think that Elie and his father survived because they had hope it would end. I also think that there was to much people in the wagon so there was little air to breath. I also think that Elie and his father survived because as the first one died they would stand on top of him for more space. The others maybe they were close to the window.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I did not like this chapter at all. It made me really sad when I read it. One hundred people got on the train, and only a few came out. I believe I would be lucky if I even had the chance to breathe in the train. One hundred people were alive, and most of them are dead. I do not think that it was luck that Eli and his father survived, I think that they were meant to survive, until they could not handle it anymore. The conditions in the wagon were really awful. Nobody had clean hands or food.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So far was the saddest chapter, I did not like it at all. One hundred people were in the train but only Elie and his father survive. I think that it was very lucky that Elie and his father survived out of the 100.I would be thankful to God that gave you a second chance to live. at the beginning of the trip 100 were alive and only to lucky person remain alive. I think Eli and his father were meant to survive and tell his story.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Only 12 of the 100 men survive. This is because people couldn't deal with what was happening and also because they couldn't hold on much longer to what little life they had left. Had the men been more civilized and worked together to survive there would have been a lot more survivors. However, they had to look out for themselves and fight for pieces of bread that aren't keeping them alive anyway. You need a lot more than a piece of bread to survive. A son killed his own father for a piece of bread even though his father was going to share with the son. A very good example of looking out for yourself and not caring for others at all. How do you expect to survive something like this if your using your energy on killing others instead of using it to help each other fight against the people who are really killing you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Like everyone else has said only 12 of the 100 people on that train survived. This was due to the sheer harsh conditions that they had to endure. That basically had to survive off of the snow on the shoulders of the people next to them. They fought and even killed each other over bread and that kid who murdered his own father just made me want to cry. The ironic part was that the child was beat to death himself for the same reason. This whole chapter threw me into disgust and yet I could stand understand why they did all of this. Michael L.

    ReplyDelete