Reader Response 1

Dear Fellow Readers,
          After reading the Preface up to page 46 in the book, I find the Jews initial reaction to the invasion of the Germans surprising and kind of confusing.  In the beginning Elie writes how the German soldiers seem quite polite and many Jews in the area are still in high spirits.  Even as the Germans  started to become stricter by  forbidding them from leaving thier homes and forcing them into distinct ghettos surrounded by barbed wire, the Jews remain content, not that worried.  Elie comments on the fenced in ghettos by saying, "People thought this was a good thing.  We would no longer have to look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares.  No more fear.  No more anguish," (12).  I find thier reaction here surprising, it's hard to believe how they are grateful for this seclusion.  They're caged in by barbed wire like creatures or animals, not humans and yet they're content with it.  It makes me wonder how bad were they treated by people outside of the ghettos?  Were all people supportive of getting rid of the Jews?  Weisel also remarks on how little they knew about places such as Auschwitz and when Moishe the Beadle had escaped and came back to warn them about the Germans, they didn't believe him.  It's hard to believe how naive they truly were to everything that was going on.  Did they really not know the Germans plan to get rid f them or were they in denial where they just couldn't believe it was actually real?
          Also, after reading the section on Auschwitz, Elie says they actually slept a lot in this concentration camp and they really had nothing to do.  Before reading I was under the inpression that this would be one of the worst of thier endeavors, yet it seemed kind of light compared to what they experienced before with the burning of Jews alive.  Weisel descibes a moment with his father, his father says, "Mother is still a young woman...She must be in a labor camp.  And Tzipora, she is a big girl now.  She too must be in a camp..." (46).  I find it hard to imagine being in that position, trying so hard to not accept the fact that your mother and your sister could be dead.  It must be torture not knowing at all whether they made it or not.  Weisel describes the scene as they're leaving yet another concentration camp, he writes, "As we were passing through some of the villages, many Germans watched us, showing no surprise.  No doubt they had seen quite a few of these processions before," (46).  At this point I was sort of angry readin the text, these guards were teasing these German girls and the girls were giggling, acting as if nothing was wrong.  How as a German watching these processions could you just watch these Jews walk by day by day, knowing perfectly well thier fate.  Did they too have such a hatred for the Jews that they really didn't care what happened to them? Were they just too scared to object?  Or did they not have any idea what went down in these concentration camps?  Regardless of reasons, I completely disagree with the Nazis and anyone who was supportive of this type of treatment to the Jews.  It is inhumane how they were treated and under no circumstances is it right to treat people this way and burn them as if they don't matter, especially since the Jews have done NOTHING to them.  Overall I found the first section very eye opening and I feel that it shows how truly cruel humans can be.