Evan Califano
4/24/12
Modern Europe
An Analysis of “This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen” The short story “The Death of Schillinger” was a story about a First Sergeant whom ruled over labor sector ‘D,’ a laboring portion of Birkenau which was formally known as the Auschwitz extermination camp. Schillinger was a short stocky man and was truly evil at his essence; “He visited the crematoria regularly and liked to watch people being shoved into the gas chambers.” (pp.144) One day in August of 1943, the SS were unloading a transport and preparing to load stripped Jews into the gas chambers. However, before this could be done Schillinger took a liking to one of the nude women and grabbed her out of line; she threw gravel in his eyes,
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The sick Schreiber carried his box to Block 14, and then the Waschraum. Onlookers thought he was odd considering he could have given these items away before being executed. However, one onlooker; a doctor reminds the readers that, “Something [could] surely happen along the way. Holding a package would be a little like holding somebody’s hand.” (pp.150) The theme of this short story is that the victims of the Holocaust were surely strong at heart and would not give up until the bitter end. Lastly, another theme that could be derived is that no one can understand death until it is staring them in the face; this was symbolized when the author stated, “The Jews who were driven to the gas chamber sand some soul-stirring Hebrew song which nobody could understand.” (pp.151) While most of the prisoners in the camp were Jewish, no one except those being driven to their deaths could understand the hymn that was sung. “A True Story” was about a malnourished man sick with typhoid fever whom told many stories to his bed neighbor Kapo Kwasniak. Kwasniak detested inactivity, but had poor kidneys and could not eat or work like he once used to. Kwasniak was not humored by the old man’s stories unless they were true as Kwasniak was not impressed with romantic literature, adventure films, or fictional novels. The malnourished old man began to tell Kwasniak a delusional story of a young boy he met in prison; the boy was found to be guilty of writing on walls and was shot
Although, at the same time German SS guards still treat the workers poorly having physically and mentally worked to death. It is to show how the Germans atrociously plan their ideas to exterminate the Jews simply because they are viewed as animals. By using light and dark atmospheres, Wiesel could successfully let the reader understand his overall message.
There is a part where we watch as humans are so ugly that it is hard for us to imagine that what they had done is possible. Liesel is playing soccer in the park and all of a sudden all the kids stop because of a noise they hear coming down the street. They think it could be a herd of cattle, but that not what it is. It is a group of Jewish people being led, or forced, to the death camps by German soldiers. On there way we watch a man die “He was dead. The man was dead. Just give him five minutes and he would surely fall into the German gutter and die. They would all let him, and they would all watch”(Zusak 393). This is talking about how when a Jewish person would die, the Germans wouldn’t do anything. They wouldn’t care that a man died right in front of them. While the Jews are walking Hans, Liesel adopted father, gives them bread. While Hans is giving this man bread a German soldier notices what is going on. He walks over to the man and, “The Jew was whipped six times. On his back, his heart, and
The main theme of this story was to show the miraculous and courageous struggle of one loving and devoted family, who put their own lives at stake to protect the lives of many others. Every night, before they were placed in the concentration camp, the tiny family of three read a scripture from the Bible. While in the “hell”, they prayed that God would forgive the retched and brutal souls of the Nazi guards who beat and killed many people. They put their Christian beliefs above all else. It was more important to them that they gave up their lives to rescue others because it was the Christian thing to do
The sullen narrative This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen poignantly recounts the events of a typical day in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. The author, Tadeusz Borowski, was Polish Holocaust survivor of Auschwitz, the series of death camps responsible for the deaths of the largest number of European Jews. Recounted from a first-person point of view, the novel unfolds at dawn as the unnamed narrator eats breakfast with a friend and fellow prisoner, Henri. Henri is a member of Canada, the labor group responsible for unloading the Jewish transports as they arrive into the camps. They are interrupted by a call for Canada to report to the loading ramps. Upon the arrival of the transport, the narrator joins Henri in
Despite seeing many other hangings while in the camp, Wiesel notes that the death of the young boy was the only time any of the prisoners wept (Night, pg. 63). Throughout the book, it is seen that victims of the Holocaust were starved, overworked, beaten, and faced with death on a daily basis, yet many remained emotionless. In Wiesel's words, “These withered bodies had long forgotten the bitter taste of tears,” (Night, pg. 63) The prisoners had distanced themselves from emotions in order to survive the unfathomable conditions they lived in. Many became so unfeeling that they could watch thousands die daily without showing any signs of grief of sorrow. However, when the inmates witnessed the hanging of an innocent child, they were not able to deny their sadness any longer. They were left heartbroken and in tears. Although entire towns were murdered daily in the gas chambers, watching a child die at such close proximity was too much for the prisoners to handle, and their emotional distress could not be controlled. Their reaction marks a turning point in which they finally realized the severity of the horrors around them, as they could no longer mask their feelings. When Wiesel says “That night, the soup tasted of corpses,” he is demonstrating how the hanging caused him to feel the presence of death no matter where he was (Night, pg. 65). The daily ration
You’re in the market for a new truck; you have an idea about what you want but not quite sure if you want a gasoline or a diesel engine. Well, gas and diesel engines are very similar yet different in quite a few ways.
Everyone experiences emotional and physiological obstacles in their life. However, these obstacles are incomparable to the magnitude of the obstacles the prisoners of the Holocaust faced every day. In his memoir, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, illustrates the horrors of the concentration camps and their mental tool. Over the course of Night, Wiesel demonstrates, that exposure to an uncaring, hostile world leads to destruction of faith and identity.
The holocaust can be regarded as one of the most awful events in history and the swastika continues to be a constant reminder of the horrendous acts of hate that were bestowed onto human lives. More than 1 million people were brutally murdered at the hands of an evil dictator named Adolf Hitler. Some of the vivid events and actions that took place during this time have been highlighted in the poem “The Trains” written by William Heyen. Heyen discusses the trains of Treblinka which carried the prized possessions of the many people who had been dropped off to death and/or concentration camps. In the poem, the author attempts to appeal to audiences of the 21st century around the world who do not fully understand the horrific incidents that occurred during the holocaust and the tragedy inflicted on its victims.
Others killed their fathers just for a small ration. Even though Eliezer knew that his father was extremely weak and was aware that death would meet his father soon, Eliezer still gave his rations to his father in hopes of nursing him back to health. Eliezer himself was weak, yet he still gave up his bread and soup to his father. The Blockalteste found out and told Eliezer “Listen to me, kid. Don’t forget you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting yourself. In fact, you should be getting his rations…” When they were in the wagon, a piece of bread was thrown in by a German laborer. An old man dragged himself to the piece of bread, while hidden one lay in his chest. Eliezer witnesses the son of the old man beating his father to death for the bread. Eliezer says “A shadow had lain down beside him. And this shadow threw himself over him.” As the old man was getting beat he cried out “Meir, my little meir! Don’t you recognize me...You’re killing your father… I have bread… for you too… for you too…” This proved that people no longer thought of family, and only themselves. They succumbed to the
The Stages of Deception used as a way of Persuasion and the thought of Hope
The author wanted to show how inhumane the camps were by describing how the Nazis made them watch a child suffer from being hung. “For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive” (Wiesel 71-72). This quote shows how brutal the Nazis can be when it comes to the Jews. The Nazis made the other Jews watch a child that they all loved so much suffer a horrible death. This was extremely inhumane and cruel to make the Jews watch him suffer, but that was not all that the Nazis did to them relating to that. The Nazis never treated them like human beings, they acted like they could treat the Jews like animals. When Wiesel is on his journey to one of the camps, he has to run the most part of it and the SS officer has no intention of cutting anyone any slack just because they are tired. In the memoir it says “The SS made us increase our pace. ‘Faster, you swine, you filthy sons of bitches!’” (Wiesel 91). The SS officer calls the Jews swine here while they are running which shows his atrocity toward them, and it also shows the Nazis cruelty toward the Jews. The Jews are worn down and tired but the Nazis make them keep
The short story, “This Way To The Gas, Ladies And Gentlemen” by Tadeusz Borowski and the poem “On My First Son” by Ben Johnson, both deal with death. They are very different types of death and are told in different ways but through some similar approaches, a similar feeling is portrayed to the reader of each.
INTRO:Tadeusz Borowski is a polish poet and short story writer who grew up in a time during the holocaust. He published most of his works for the underground press as they were brutally honest from his personal experience. He struggled in search of good moral values despite his Nazi occupation. In his short story “This way for the gas, ladies and gentlemen” was set in a concentration camp in Auschwitz. The narrator was a polish prisoner who worked under Nazi rule, we can assume it is based on Borowski’s real life.
In the Auschwitz documentary Kitty Hart-Moxon gave an explanation of what had occurred during the Holocaust; selection and explains how to survive. Kitty Hart-Moxon stated, “When you arrived on the train, women and children and the elderly were sent directly to their death in the gas chambers. You could hear people suffocating for about twenty minutes, and then it was over” (Documentary: A Day In Auschwitz). If you weren't fit and didn't pass the selection test you were considered weak, and got put to your death. In the Auschwitz documentary Kitty Hart Moxon explains if you passed the selection “You were stripped down of your clothes and valuables, your hair was shaved off….and you would be tattooed with a number.” (Documentary: A Day In Auschwitz). Now, comparing the Auschwitz documentary to the excerpt Night, Elie Wiesel focused on one subject: selection. “ We knew what it meant. An SS would examine us.. to see if we were fit enough.” (Wiesel 308). The victims and prisoners went through a selection process. Men were separated from women along with children. A Nazi, usually an SS physician, looked quickly at each person to decide if he or she was strong and healthy enough for forced labor. The SS officer then selected the weak; victims did not know that individuals were being selected to live or die. Carefully examining both of the mediums subjects, the Auschwitz documentary had a wide
Throughout the Holocaust Years, and shortly afterwards, there was a man that struck fear in the people imprisoned in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – “the Angel of Death”. He was a man who showed up for selections with a demeanor that made one think he was handsome and debonair yet, one could not possibly think of the monstrosities that he committed during World War II. Even more disturbing is that “wherever he sprang up, Death spread its shadow.” (Wiesel xix)