Through out the book we've seen the Jews face such cruel things and we've seen them slowly become more and more dehumanized. I always thought though that they still held on to some of their humanity, that it wasn't really possible for someone to be completely dehumanized, but this chapter has made me have some second thoughts.
When the corpses of the deceased were being unloaded from the train it was said that "volunteers began the task."
Volunteers.
This really hit me because I imagine that it was very crowded and uncomfortable but I don't understand how people could just volunteer to dispose of the corpses. These were bodies of people who had faced an awful, tragic death, a death that these others had barely managed to escape themselves. These bodies belonged to people that they may have known, people that they were suffering with side by side. I imagine that they wanted the bodies gone because it was, for various reasons, uncomfortable to have them around, but I really cannot wrap my head around the fact that people so easily, so quickly volunteered to remove them -- throw them out of the train and just abandon them. I think that it takes a lot of detachment and lack of emotions to do something like that. This chapter, this scene in particular, has really made me realize how much the Jews have been dehumanized and how much they've changed.
I feel that at this point each of the prisoners really only cared about himself. I think at this point they were not at all attached to any of the deceased, and thought their corpses were just wasting space.
ReplyDeleteI agree Marisa, at this point they were so disconnected with their emotions that they didn't feel anything about throwing their friends or camp mates off. They had been so neglected that all they wanted was comfort and thought it best to make it the best of situations by having more room and things for those that were still alive.
ReplyDeleteI would say the Jews were now only looking out for what was best for them. At this point they've had enough and now it wasn't about sticking together, rather doing what they thought would help them make it to the end. I also think that maybe the Jews thought if the Germans saw them doing what they said and not caring for the Jews anymore that they would be seen as sometimg more than just a Jew.
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