Pages 29 - 46

Mrs. Schachter’s prediction about the flames came true. When the Jews arrived at Auschwitz, they saw flames licking the skies from a tall chimney and smelled the scent of burning flesh. Mrs. Schachter fell silent with a blank gaze. Apparently, she had no purpose left.

When they arrived, they were separated by gender, and one by one, led off to either an incinerator to be burned alive, or the prison. Eliezer and his father were condemned to the fire, but narrowly escaped when a German soldier told them to go to the prison instead. There, they were forced to dress in the same clothes and all have their hair cut the same way. This is the Nazi's way of dehumanizing the Jews, in an effort to more efficiently torture (and exterminate) them and not feel as guilty about doing so.

All the Jews were herded together and told that they would be forced to work. They had numbers and letters tattooed on their arms to replace their names. This was yet another method of dehumanization by the Germans.