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What was Gleiwitz in Night?

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Gleiwitz is a Nazi camp where Eliezer and his father spent three days. They, like other prisoners, do not eat or drink during this time. There are many people in the barrack, their bodies lying on top of each other so that many suffocate.

Detailed answer:

Gleiwitz is a contraction camp as many, but Eliezer does not see the whole of it. Nazis place Jews in a barrack, forcing them to “trod over numbed bodies, trampled wounded faces.” People in the barrack were so numerous that cause many suffocate under the pressure of body mass. Eliezer found himself lying on Juliek, a violin player in Buna whom he remembered well.

The boy describes how the bodies of other prisoners crushed him, and he was suffocating. He even loses hope of salvation at some point, and the situation is “the end of the road.” However, Eliezer fought for his life, ignoring others who most likely did not have the strength to complain. Many died in the barrack, but the boy and his father managed to survive.

Eliezer describes a remarkable episode that will often evoke memories in the future. Juliek got to his violin and started playing. Although he performed for the already dead or dying, the action distracted people for a while. Silence occupies a special place in the description of the days spent in the barrack. There are no screams, only moaning, which later disappear as well.

On the third day, Nazis take the prisoners out to be sent by train to the center of Germany. They divide the people into two groups, and Eliezer separates from his father. However, he is able to distract the guards and move to his father’s group. Nazis later escort the prisoners to the railway, where they are waiting for the train. Thus, Gleiwitz is a barrack in which Eliezer has to fight for his life among a pile of dying Jews.

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