Journal Entry #13

Journal Entry #13
Chapter : 13

Winter is arriving in Auschwitz, and winter in Auschwitz means several things to the prisoners. Hunger, tiredness, fear, and pain are all words that describe what winter is like in Auschwitz. There are some similarities how people treat winter these days, and how people treated winter in the camps. Winter brings the cold weather, and people tend to dislike the cold weather. They try to stay in warm places, and they try to hide from the cold. Like this, people in the camp tried to stay in warm places, trying to avoid chances of getting sick and cold from the weather. While they are running from the cold, the winter brings something else that the prisoners are aware of. The selection takes place during winter also, which is selecting prisoners that will be killed in the gas chambers. No one knows what their fate is going to be, if they are going to die or survive. It is a matter of luck that they will avoid the selection. The people who were selected, however, got certain privelages which was pretty ironic to me. For example, Zieglar, a man who was selected got a privelage of getting more soup than usual because he was going to die soon. What is the point of feeding prisoners better than before if they know they are going to kill them anyways?
"Kuhn is out of his senses. Does he not see Beppo......Can Kuhn fail to realize that next time it will be his turn? Does Kuhn not understand that what has happened today is an abomination, which no propitiatory prayer, no pardon, no expiation by the guilty which nothing at all in the power of man can ever clean again? If I was God, I would spit at Kuhn's prayer." This quote stood out since it explained how infuriated Primo was by the meaningless killnig of the Jews. Just because they had too much, they started sending people to the gas chambers. While Kuhn still clinged on to religious beliefs for his salvation, Primo seems to denounce his faith since it felt like God has forsaken the Jews and people in Auschwitz.