The conditions in the camps are still gut wrenching, including how they treat the people as well. At one point in the story they're told to clean the room for the Russians so they don't think "pigs" are living there. When in reality, if they're treated like animals, let other people know how they're treated. There should be no secret in how these poor Jews were treated, if Germans had no shame in treating them this way there should be no shame in telling people about it. I literally felt sick to my stomach when i read about Elie getting whipped. How on earth could someone do that to another human being? Imagine minding your own business and seeing what he saw? Elie was scared enough emotionally from that, and certainly didn't deserve to be scared physically. Little by little, every ones emotions are being changed, they can no longer feel any sorrow or cry over their miseries. Elie's father almost didn't make it past the inspection thing and was going to have to go into the crematory. Elie had no emotion whatsoever and couldn't even grieve properly for almost losing his father. Why have these camps changed them so much already?
Anther problem that really got me upset was their clothing situations. They slept in literally nothing. They had these tiny blankets, I'm assuming, and their clothes clearly aren't high quality. The winter time was the worst, even though they received a thicker shirt, the weather was still unbearable. Elie said that while working it felt like his hand was sticking to the steel slates he was moving. If your workers are that cold, and that uncomfortable don't you think you'd try to make them comfortable;e so they can work better? It just doesn't make sense to expect such high quality work from them but not treat them normally.
Also, listening to the hangings of people literally made me want to throw up. Why did everyone have to watch the hangings of other men, as if it wasn't hard enough watching them get beat, they had to watch them hang in a noose? Reading about that poor little boy who was hung literally broke my heart. Unlike the rest of the men, he didn't die within the first couple minutes. Becausee he was so young and underweight, it took him longer to die. This left him just chilling there waiting to die. Imagine waiting for your death to come and having people watch you like theres nothing wrong with it? This book is honestly so disturbing in many ways. How were people just treated this way? Why were they? Theres so many questions i would ask the German officers and especially Hitler. I just become so angry thinking about him and his disgusting ways. I don't care how messed up in the head people said he was. Theres no excuse for what he did, its disgusting and inhumane.
I think you make some really valid points here about the cruelty and inhumane conditions the Jews faced. It is an extremely difficult text to get through. It's almost as if Hitler and the Nazis have no feelings and they have no heart. I understand your disgust when you read about Elie being whipped and especially the hanging of that poor young boy. Honestly I can't understand how the Germans could live with that guilt, then again you could ask yourself that question with any type of murderer or serial killer. I think the Germans just show complete disrespect for human life, I just don't understand how or why they hated the Jews so much. Also,in regards to one of your questions about the worker's clothing, honestly it didn't matter to the Germans whether or not the Jews were warm and sufficient workers. They could care less about how the Jews felt and to be honest I don't think they cared whether or not the work was done properly. They didn't care because if any Jewish worker didn't or couldn't do their work they would be killed and why would that matter when that was thier ultimate goal in the first place and they had millions of other Jews they could just throw in that worker's place. I'm also confused on why the SS officers would care about the world knowing how the Jews were treated. To them the Jews were animals, they were nothing, I'm surprised they wouldn't want to try and convince the world that. Perhaps it's because several others in the world did not have the same opinion as Hitler and his men and they would probably see these actions just as we do, completely horrid and awful. They could've kept it on the down low to prevent the Jews from knowing what was coming as well. It seemed that Elie and his neighbors had known about the Germans beforehand, but I don't believe they knew the extent of thier plans and the true brutality of it all. After all, there was that one man who came back to Weisel's village, who had escaped the Germans. He had tried to warn them about the concentration camps and such, but the other Jews didn't believe him. This worked to the Germans advantage for the Jews didn't try to run away. Overall I understand your opinions and anger toward the SS officers and Hitler and I am hesitant as well to continue reading.
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