He is right to be afraid and angry because after he and his family are deported and arrive at Birkenau, the German"s welcome center for Auschwitz, Wiesel"s childhood is destroyed forever. The Jews suffer miserable crowded conditions during the train ride to Birkenau. Wiesel watches in horror as his fellow Jews brutal, tie, and gag Madame Schachter, who has become hysterical. She is screaming of seeing visions of fire and flames in the distance. Nothing, however, can compare to what he found at Birkenau, the smoke, the smell of burning flesh from the crematories, and the flames from the pits where babies and young children were being thrown.

             Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, .

             which has turned my life into one long night, seven .

             times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I .

             forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces.

             of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths.

             of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.

             Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my.

             faith forever.

             Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived.

             me, for all eternity, of the desire to life. Never shall I.

             forget those moments which murdered my God and my.

             soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget.

             these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as .

             God Himself. Never. (Wiesel 32) .

             This is the darkest "night" of Wiesel"s young life, but the Germans have only begun their torture campaign. Families are separated, food, water, and sanitary conditions are in short supply, and the Jews are treated worse than unwanted, stray animals. This type of mental and psychological torture would follow Wiesel and his fellow Jews through-out their days in the concentration camps.

             Wiesel surely thought about how the Jews may have contributed to their own problems, although he cannot fault them for their optimism. In Wiesel"s camps, there seemed to be very little resistance put forth by the Jews to try to save themselves from almost certain death.