# data[].attributes.body
"Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star. My father's view was that it was not all bleak, or perhaps he just did not want to discourage the others, to throw salt on their wounds. "The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal..." (Poor Father! Of what then did you die?)"(Weisel pg. 11).

After the German soldiers came to Sighet, Eliezers town, they began to place decrees on the Jewish people of Sighet. Eliezer's father says that it's no big deal, and future Eliezer comments on the irony of his words.

This was significant to Eliezers character development because it was one of the first signs of the Jews impending doom. Eliezer comments on his fathers words, about how the star was not lethal, but that star was what separated those who would live and those who wouldn't. This relates to the theme State Sponsored Violence because the soldiers placed the decrees on the Jewish people of Sighet under the German regimes orders.

# data[].attributes.headline
Eliezer Questions Why God Should Be Thanked

# data[].attributes.subject
Eliezer Questions Why God Should Be Thanked

# data[].attributes.body
" "Yisgadal, veyiskadash, shmey raba... May his name be celebrated and sanctified..." whispered my father. For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" (Weisel pg. 33).

Just a few steps to the crematorium, Eliezer's father prays for gods name to be celebrated and sanctified, Eliezer is angered, for why should they sanctify the name of the cruel god that allowed this to happen to his devotees?

This event is significant because it shows one of the first instances when Eliezer began to doubt god, which relates to "Struggle with religious faith". This is the beginning of a complete loss of religious faith in Eliezer, caused by the Holocaust.

# data[].attributes.body
"We had forgotten Mrs. Schachter's existence. Suddenly, there was a terrible scream: "Jews, look! Look at the fire! Look at the flames!" And as the train stopped this time we saw flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky. Mrs. Schachter had fallen silent on her own. Mute again, indifferent, absent, she had returned to her corner." (Weisel pg. 28).

Eliezer is forced to stay in a cattle car with eighty people for a few days, one of the people in the cattle car is a mother gone mad, Mrs. Schachter. Every now and then during that time period, Mrs. Schachter would scream about flames until she was knocked out. When they finally reach their destination, Mrs. Schachter is proven right, and goes silent.

This moment is significant because Mrs. Schachter spends the whole time in the cattle car trying to warn the Jews of their imminent fate, yet Eliezer and everyone else did not believe her and continued to delude themselves. This was an example of recurring instances of ignorance in the memior.

# data[].attributes.headline
The French Woman Speaks Kind German Words 

# data[].attributes.subject
The French Woman Speaks Kind German Words 

# data[].attributes.body
"One day when Idek was venting his Fury, I happened to cross his path. He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chese, on my head, throwing me on the ground... Until I was covered in blood... It was the French girl. She was smiling her mournful smile as she slipped me a crust of bread... She said, in almost perfect German: "Bite your lips little brother... Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come but not now... Wait. Clench your teeth and wait..." (Weisel pg. 53).

Eliezer gets caught in his Kapo, Idek's fit of rage. Severely injured, Eliezer crawls himself into a corner, and the French woman in his kommando feeds him her ration of bread and comforts him. She tells him that now is not the time to retaliate.

Her words are important because at that time and place, it's every man for themselves, and it's easy to lose yourself. The woman is a representation of Individual Survival Vs Collective Good. She comforts Eliezer and gives him her food even though she is probably starved, even though getting beaten isn't a big deal in the camps, even though it's every man for themselves.

# data[].attributes.body
"Three condemned prisoners together stepped onto the chairs. In unison, the nooses were placed around their necks... The boy was silent. "Where is merciful God, where is He?" someone behind me was asking. At the signal, the three chairs were tipped over... The two men were no longer alive.. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing... And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death. And we were forced to look at him at close range. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: "For God's sake, where is God?"... That night, the soup tasted of corpses." (Eliezer pg. 64, 65)

A kind Oberkapo was found to have sabotaged the central electric plant in Buna. He was killed, but his young Pipel was left behind and tortured for the Oberkapos actions. Inevitably, he was sentenced to death along with two other men who were found with weapons. The angelic Pipel was hanged beside the two men, but it took half an hour before he actually died. The witnesses were distressed, their faith in god faltered as they watched the boy die slowly.

This event was significant to Eliezers development, because it was a display of the Nazi's cruelty. It was tormenting to watch the boy die, and it relates to Struggle With Religious Faith. Eliezer, along with other inmates, faith in God crumbled. Why would god allow a young angel, to die a slow painful death? Why would god have allowed any of this to happen to his faithful devotees.

# data[].attributes.body
"Thousands of lips repeated the benediction, bent over like trees in a storm, Blessed be God's name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Yom Kippur. The Day Of Atonement. Should we fast? I did not fast. There was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God's silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him. And I nibbled on my crust of bread. Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening." (Weisel pg. 67 - 69).

It is around the end of the year, and it is the time of Jewish holidays. Throughout the time, Eliezer expresses his deep resentment towards God, for He allowed this to happen. Eliezer refuses to take part in the fasting, as an act of rebellion against god.

This entire chapter was vital to Eliezer's character development, because he provides long and descriptive rants about what he is actually thinking. Eliezer has lost his faith in God, because God had allowed millions of devoted followers to be tortured everyday and night, and die a horrible death. Eliezer eats because he had nothing to believe in, he had bigger concerns to attend to, like survival.

# data[].attributes.headline
Eliezer's Father Is Chosen To Be Sent To The Crematorium

# data[].attributes.subject
Eliezer's Father Is Chosen To Be Sent To The Crematorium

# data[].attributes.body
""Me too, me too... They told me too to stay in the camp." They had recorded his number without his noticing. He felt time was running out, he was speaking rapidly, he wanted to tell me so many things. He knew I had to leave in a few moments. He was going to remain alone, so alone... "Here, take this knife, I wont need it anymore. You may find it useful. Also take this spoon. Don't sell it. Quickly! Go ahead, take what I'm giving you!" My inheritance... I was on the verge of breaking into sobs. "Keep the spoon and the knife, you will need them as much as I. We will see each other again, after work" Our Kapo shouted the order to march. My father had remained near the block. Then he began to run, to try and catch up to me, perhaps he had forgotten to tell me something... But we were marching too fast... How good it would be to die right here!" (Weisel pg. 74 - 76)

Eliezer's father was unknowingly marked useless and good for the crematorium during the selection. When he found out, he came running to Eliezer, to tell him what he needs to say before he might die. He gives Eliezer his prized possessions, a spoon and a knife. Eliezer had to go, but his father forgot to tell him something. (I assume) Eliezer never found out what he had to say.

This event was significant because Eliezer almost lost his father. It relates to Family Loyalty and Obligations, because the two stayed loyal and caring for each other to the seemingly end, even in a concentration camp. This moment shows how much Eliezer loves his father, they are essentially each other's will to live.

# data[].attributes.body
"The door of the shed opened. It was Rabbi Eliahu. As he entered the shed, his eyes, brighter than ever, seemed to be searching for someone. "Perhaps someone here has seen my son?" He had lost his son in the commotion. "No, Rabbi Eliahu, I haven't seen him." He had already gone through the door when I remembered that I had noticed his son running beside me. But then I remembered something else; his son had seen him losing ground, sliding back to the rear of the column. He had seen him. And he had continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater. In spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed. "Oh God Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu's son had done."" (Weisel pg. 90 - 91)

A kind old man, Rabbi Eliahu, loses his son in the commotion of the death march, and asks Eliezer if he had seen him. Eliezer responds negative, but then remembers he has seen his son only after Rabbi Eliahu left the shed. Eliezer also remembers that Rabbi Eliahu's son had abandoned him despite seeing him fall behind. Eliezer, the boy who resented god, made a prayer to god, to give him the strength never to fail the test that Rabbi Eliahu's son had failed.

This moment is important to Eliezers development because this is when Eliezer prays to never betray his father as Rabbi Eliahu's son did. Eliezer compares Rabbi Eliahu and his son's relationship to his own reltationship with his father, and he believes what Rabbi Eliahu's son did was the most terrible thing. This moment once again emphasizes his love for his father, and relates to Family Loyalty and Obligations.

# data[].attributes.body
"An old man dragging himself on all fours. He had just detached himself from the struggle mob. Then I understood, he was hiding a piece of bread under his shirt. With lighting speed he pulled it out and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up, a smile, like a grimace, illuminated his ashen face. And was immediately extinguished. A shadow had lain down beside him. And this shadow threw itself over him. Stunned by the blows, the old man was crying: "Meir, my little Meir! Don't you recognize me... You're killing your father... I have bread... for you too... for you too..." He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it. He didn't get far. Two men had been watching him. They jumped him. Others joined in. When they withdrew, there were two dead bodies next to me, the father and the son.

I was sixteen." (Weisel pg. 101 - 102)

In the cattle car, Eliezer witnesses men killing each other over pieces of bread thrown at them by curious workmen and passersby. He sees an old man get killed by his son for a small crust of bread, then he witnesses the son die right after, getting jumped by the other men.

This moment is significant to Eliezer's character, Although Eliezer had seen people die almost every day, the battles in the cattle car were one moment that sort of represented the whole experience. Desperate, animalized, emaciated men killing and getting killed for bread. Seeing something like this, especially at the age 16, is extremely traumatizing.

# data[].attributes.body
"My father was pleading: "My son, water... I'm burning up... My insides..."

"Silence over there!" barked the officer.

"Eliezer," continued my father, "water..."

The officer came closer and shouted to him to be silent. But my father did not hear. He continued to call me. The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head. I didn't move. I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head. My father groaned once more, I heard:

"Eliezer..." I could see that he was still breathing--in gasps. I didn't move.

Then I had to go to sleep. I climbed into my bunk, above my father, who was still alive. The date was January 28, 1945. I woke up at dawn on January 29. On my fathers cot there lay another sick person. They must've taken him away before daybreak and taken him to the crematorium. I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if i could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!..." (Weisel pg. 111 - 112)

Eliezer's father dies, and Eliezer feels relieved.

This moment is one of the most important moments for Eliezer. Eliezer has spent his time in Buchenwald taking care of his sickly father. He knows that his time has come and that there's nothing anyone can do about it, and Eliezer becomes numb. The death of his father did not devastate him at the time, in fact, he was relieved. Free from burden. This moment shows how much the Holocaust can change a person.

# data[].attributes.body
"Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That's all we thought about. No thoughts of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread. And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge. Three days after the liberation of Buchenwald, I became very ill; some form of poisoning. I was transferred to a hospital and spent two weeks between life and death. One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto.

From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me." (Weisel pg. 115)

After being liberated from the concentration camps, no one seeks justice. Eliezer looks at himself in the mirror. He sees a corpse.

This event was extremely significant to Eliezer's character. It shows the affect of the Holocaust. The victims don't seek justice or revenge, they've been pacified and brainwashed. They are too tired to act. Eliezer also mentions the physical effects of the Holocaust. He had become an empty and malnourished shell of a human.