However, I guess that's what makes this book so hard to read. Anyone who read the Foreword already knows the inescapable fate of Elie's poor father... Just as we knew what the invading Nazis signified. And the smokestacks in the concentration camps... And all of the other dreadful horrors of this book.
I know that the crowded, filthy enclosure of the cattle carts must have been unbearable, but just imagine how empty and barren those carts must have felt with only the 12 survivors. I mean the struggle between relief over their own survival and grief resulting from the loss of their friend Meir Katz must have been terrible. And even more... Not knowing what was waiting for them, must have been the greatest uncertainty of all.
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I like your last thought of this post. You're right, they must feel so relieved to have survived the camps and the train ride and yet, there were hundreds of lost souls lying in the car still and buried in the snow that surrounded the tracks which must have caused so much pain and grief. And Elie was only 16 years old, that would be us, a year or two ago, so young but already seen so much death and darkness. I just hope that better fortunes lie ahead.
ReplyDeleteSeeing dying or dead all around must have been painful to witness. Death always looming in front of the survivors, so many choosing to succumb to deaths warm embrace. Elie and his father had a drive to live: each other. So many had lost family members death was not a selfish answer for them.
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