space:Auchwitz,Plaszlow

summary:

Yanek ends up in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Here, the conditions are terrible, and he witnesses the brutalities of the Nazi regime. In a place where human life is worth nothing, Yanek tries to survive and remain as invisible as possible to avoid attracting the attention of German officers. At the same time, they learn how to defend themselves, get food and endure daily suffering. At Auschwitz, he meets other prisoners and forms bonds of solidarity to endure together.

Yanek is moved to another camp, this time in Plaszów, where conditions are even harsher. Here, he lives under constant threat and is forced to work hard. Survival becomes a daily struggle, and Yanek tries to keep his humanity in the face of the horrors he is subjected to. He meets people who try to give him hope, and moments of camaraderie are essential to deal with the constant stress and fear.

*what impress me:I was impressed by the fact that Yanek, at a young age, learned to defend himself and overcome hardships and resist.

*place:Auchwitz

summary:After a few months at Birkenau, Yanek is transferred to Auschwitz because they need more workers. On the prisoners’ march to Auschwitz, they stop at the train station, where new Jews—with real clothes and good health,arrive. Yanek feels deeply sorry for the new arrivals.Yanek thinks that these people will soon look like him.

The prisoners are then marched to Auchwitz.One Auschwitz prisoner tells them quietly that younger people should say that they are 18, in good health, and have a trade. The family in front of Yanek in line, who have just arrived off the train, didn’t understand the advice. The Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele, interviews the man, who explains that his wife had pneumonia recently and that his son is only nine. Mengele tells the man to go to the right and the woman and boy to go to the left. The woman and boy protest, but soldiers keep them apart.

A kapo explains that they’re going to the camp.

One morning, Yanek notices the man in the bunk next to him is dead. Yanek and Fred are assigned to the same work detail, and Fred starts to ask Yanek questions about himself. Yanek remembers Moshe’s warning, but he also recognizes how nice it had been to talk with Issac and Thomas.They talk about what they’ll do when they get out. The next day,Fred get sick,the kapo see that he can’t go to work and took him

•what inpressed me the most:I was impress by the fact that Yanek start to complain for the new jews.

•what shocked me:I was shocked when the other jews judge them by the lock

After his time in Aushwitz, Yanek is select to be moved to another concentration camp, Sachsenhausen

However unlite to usual train transports the prisoners are forced to walk a long distance and this journey is extremely difficult due to the inhumane conditions. Yanek and the other prisoners are forced to walk through a very harsh winter witjout proper clothing or sufficient food

Characters: Yanek the main character and the other prisoners, SS officers,the boy who welps and kapo

What impressed me: that he didn’t give up and had confidence that he would succeed

Shocking without moment: A shocking moment is when Yanek witnesses the deaths of other prisoners who cannot continue their journey or who did not meet the nazist demands.

Yanek realizes that, despite his own suffering there are times when he can help other prisoners, even when resources are extremely limited. Yanek meets a young boy who is too weak to continue walking and risk being left behing or even executed. He used his last reserves of energy to supoort him.

What impressed me: that he helped that boy even though no one wanted to help him

Shocking moments: The boy leaves without thanks, after Yanek helped his

location:Sachsenhausen,Bergen-belsen

Three days later, Yanek arrives at Sachsenhausen camp. Luckily, the Nazis do not make the prisoners work immediately, instead sending them to the barracks with soup and bread. At night, even though Yanek shares a bed with five other men, he falls asleep instantly, grateful to be out of the cold. The next day, Yanek sees that the camp is filled with corpses stacked on top of each other. Yanek washes at the pump, and he remembers out of the blue the first day his mother brought home a toothbrush for him. He marvels at how amazing it was to own this simple object.Soon after, Yanek is shipped by cattle car to Bergen-Belsen. When he and the other prisoners arrive, the commandant is disappointed by how weak they all look, and he starts to point at prisoners to separate them. Yanek is devastated not to be picked, until he watches as the ones who have been chosen are gunned down. He realizes that the prisoners who had been chosen were the weakest, not the strongest—Yanek just can’t tell the difference. The commandant then says that they will not work for a week so that they can get their strength back.