One of the deportees, Madame Schächter, becomes hysterical with visions of flames and furnaces.Īt midnight on the third day of their deportation, the group looks in horror at flames rising above huge ovens and gags at the stench of burning flesh. In a cattle car, eighty villagers can scarcely move and have to survive on minimal food and water. Elie's family is part of the final convoy. In spring, authorities begin shipping trainloads of Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex. However, even when anti-Semitic measures force the Sighet Jews into supervised ghettos, Elie's family remains calm and compliant. His instructor, Moshe the Beadle, returns from a near-death experience and warns that Nazi aggressors will soon threaten the serenity of their lives. John watches him be lead away, then settles down to nap-having the cell to himself.In 1944, in the village of Sighet, Romania, twelve-year-old Elie Wiesel spends much time and emotion on the Talmud and on Jewish mysticism. The jailer comes for Monsieur Rigaud, informing him that the people are already against him. John Baptist thinks Rigaud's case will incur the prejudice of the tribunal and result in a harsh sentence. It started out as a romantic evening until they began to argue over the money situation. They quarreled often, and the relations and neighbors accused him of mistreating her. He also tried to alter her vulgar manners, which she resented. He wanted to dominate the relationship but met with resistance from her relatives. He married the man’s beautiful young widow. He came to Marseilles when he became poor and sick. Since he is not coming back to this cell, for better or worse, he decides to tell John his story. He asks the hour again and is glad that his trial is approaching. Rigaud is happy that this common smuggler recognized him as a gentleman. When he asks John if he ever expected him to work, the other man replies in the negative. He asks if he has done any work, and John answers no. He asks John how long he (Rigaud) has been there. Rigaud gives John a small remainder of his wine and a cigarette, both which are appreciated. Rigaud forces John back to his portion of the cell, where he eats his bread contentedly. He has no news for John Baptist, saying most prisoners are not in such a hurry to be tried. The jailer tells Rigaud he will be tried later that day. She is more frightened of Monsieur Rigaud. The child hands the food through the bars, feeling sorry for the “poor birds.” She gives John his bread in his hand and allows him to kiss hers. He shows her his “little birds” (the prisoners). The prisonkeeper comes with his little girl. John Baptist has the ability to keep track of time, though he has no watch. However, submissively he obeys and gets up. The other man, John Baptist Cavalletto, replies there is no difference between sleeping and being awake in prison. He yells at his companion not to fall asleep. One of the prisoners, a Monsieur Rigaud, is cold and complains of how even the intense sun cannot manage to filter into the prison cell. The atmosphere is like a tomb, the inhabitants hardly appear to be living. The men and surroundings are in a declined state. Light comes through a barred window, which is large enough for an arm to go through. They have a few belongings and the company of vermin. The heat increases the odors in the poorer districts. Any window covering was drawn, but the sunlight managed to peep in through keyholes. The vegetation, animals, and anyone outside swelters in the heat. The intense glare of the scenery is hard on the eyes. People of different nationalities who came to trade their goods seek shelter. Ships and rocks without shelter are too hot to touch. Marseilles has a scorcher one day in August.
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