During the Holocaust between 5 and 6 million Jews were executed in Nazi concentration camps. Elie Wiesel describes this from his point of view in his autobiography, Night. Wiesel, as a boy, was sent to concentration camps with his family. His family was killed, but he lived to tell the story.
The first few chapters of the book describe what life was like for the Jews in a small town in Hungary, and when they were sent to concentration camps. While in Hungary, Elie, his family, and friends waited in hunger and thirst before they were evacuated from their ghettos. One thing I found surprising is that the Jews in the town did not know where they were going until they arrived at Auschwitz. Auschwitz was one of the camps in Kaschau, a little town on the Czechoslovak frontier. When they got to the camp, flames from a massive furnace and German officers greeted them with the statement: "Men on the left, women on the right!" After they were sorted out, they were sent to barracks where Elie was fortunate enough to stay with his father. This played an important role in his life while in the camps. .
After a long time and many hours of hard work, the men were deported to a new camp. The men had to go through medical examinations and selections so that only the people strong enough to work would be in the camp. In the second camp, Buna, the men were sent to work in a warehouse. In this warehouse, one day, Idek, a German soldier, beat Elie for no apparent reason. This would happen on occasion to anyone who got in his way. It even happened to Elie's father once when the men were loading diesel engines onto trains. Idek claimed that Elie's father was being "lazy" and "not working hard." The book then goes on to describe the day Buna was bombed. Many buildings were flattened, but the warehouse where the men worked, still stood.
One January, Elie's right foot began to swell due to the cold. He had to have it operated on.
