After reading more of Elie Wiesel’s haunting life story, he describes the horrendous things he witnessed while in the concentration camp and, how the prisoners were treated in the most gruesome ways. When they first get to Auschwitz, the Jews are given a number then doctors use needles to brand it onto each captive’s forearm. From then on the prisoners were not known by name but, by their number. This was just one of the degrading things that the Jews were forced to endure. Another hardship they faced was the verbal and physical abuse not only from the guards but, from the other prisoners as well. The prisoners were physiologically abused by the Gestapo by being forced to watch the public hangings of disobedient prisoners. Then they would …show more content…
But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing… And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes” (Wiesel 64). It was shocking and disturbing to me that the Gestapo was willing to hang a child to prove their point and frighten the other prisoners. The soldiers also treated the Jews like their personal punching bags. When they first arrive at the camp Elie's dad politely asks a guard if he can use the lavatory but, instead is brutally beaten by the soldier. Then, when Elie catches an officer having an affair with a young Polish girl, he is brutally whipped in front of everyone by the same officer. Overall, the captives went through starvation, mental abuse, whippings and, beatings to the point where it became a daily occurrence. It was hard to read the gruesome details of how the prisoners of Auschwitz were tortured but, even though the Jews were put into the camps because of their faith, they still continue to practice it. The Jews in Elie’s camp would pray before every meal and, a rabbi in the camp lead them in prayer. However, while everyone else continues to pray Elie’s opinion on religion has completely