“Still, our first impressions of the Germans were rather reassuring. The officers were billeted in private homes, even in the homes of Jews. Their attitude toward their hosts was distant, but polite. They never demanded the impossible, made no unpleasant comments, and even smiled occasionally at the mistress of the house.” (5) | The idea that the Germans weren't always harsh during that time baffles me. I always thought that the Germans were constantly beating down on Jews, and, even though they were for most of this historical time, this quote proves me wrong. There were times when they could be civilized and tolerant human beings. There was a belief during this time that the Germans and followers of the Germans believed that Jews were …show more content…

I'm also surprised that none of the new people entering the camp had heard of Auschwitz before, even though now it's seen as one of the most well known Nazi concentration camps from the war. They might not have known about it because the Nazis were trying to keep all of the names of the camps and the happenings going on within them on the down-low, so that Jews (like the Wiesels) didn't know what was awaiting them and so didn't have time to run, and also maybe they tried to keep the camps a secret so that fighting forces didn't know much about them, either. | “Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames. They were burning something. A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load- little children. Babies! Yes, I saw it- saw it with my own eyes… those children in the flames.” (21) | When I read this, I had to stop, go back, and reread it. I was in total disbelief. You would expect to hear of atrocities such as this in fictional tales of horror, not in actual history. And yet, it is true. Little infants were thrown into fire! How could anyone do that and not want to kill themselves because of their guilt? How could the people doing this have no emotion toward these babies at all! These children all had a place in the world, a life to live, dreams to fulfill, and so much more. Now, those budding lives and dreams have been turned into