Seeing the crematoriums is not the first-time Elie or his family experienced cruelty. The first time he witnessed cruelty was in the ghettos, seeing people beat by the Gestapo to get in line to get on the train. Once Elie was introduced to camp life, Elie and other prisoners were always beat inside of the barracks, but did not feel the pain due to being beaten and treated subhuman for some time. A German guard can do anything they want to the prisoners, unfortunately Elie was in the wrong time and place when Idek needed to vent his fury and Elie had crossed paths with him. So Idek started to beat Elie, “as I bit my lips in order not to howl with pain, he must have taken my silence for defiance and so he continued to hit me harder and harder” …show more content…
The guards were not the only ones who were cruel that are inside the camp, some of the prisoners had done some pretty disgusting things. Franek, a prisoner, wanted Elie’s golden crown and did not stop tormenting Elie’s father since Elie did not give the crown at first. Elie needed his crown in order to eat, but Elie could not see his father being tormented. Franek would probably receive more rations for the crown and when he could not get it, “that presented Franek with the opportunity to torment him and, on a daily basis, to thrash him savagely” (Wiesel 55). Later, when roll call happened, Elie’s father was pleading with Elie for some food and drink because he had a fever. Unfortunately, Shlomo was talking while an SS officer was doing roll call and told him to be quiet, but continued to ask Elie for food and drink. So, the SS officer smashed his club into the father’s head for talking and Elie’s head for being the closest to him. Even when the Germans were on the run, they had to give one last shot on the prisoners, so the SS soldiers decided to blow up some of the camp while prisoners were sleeping inside of their