At Buchenwald, Elie's father says that he wants to give up. Elie tries desperately to urge his father to have hope. But Elie is so tired he falls asleep. When he awakes, he remembers his father. Feeling that somehow, he had abandoned his father, Elie goes to look for him. Yet, in his mind, Elie wishes that he could be rid of his father. Ashamed of such thoughts, Elie finds his father and attends to his needs. In bringing some hot coffee, Elie thinks that with those few gulps, "I probably brought him more satisfaction than I had done during my whole childhood." Chapter 8, pg. 101 Elie's father suffers from dysentery and is near death. Elie gets a doctor to see his father, but the doctor tells Elie that it is useless.
Elie's father lies in bed for several days where he complains to Elie that his neighbors are beating him and taking his food. A week goes by. The head of the block tells Elie to look out for himself and forget about his father. Although Elie finds the advice reasonable, he chooses not to leave his father. As Elie's father cries out for water, an officer gives him a severe blow to his head. On January 28th, 1945, Elie sees his father for the last time: "his blood-stained face, his shattered skull." (Chapter 8, pg. 106) When Elie wakes up the next day, his father is gone-they had taken him during the night. Elie feels guilty that he has no tears to shed. He does not know what to feel:
"But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might perhaps have found something like-free at last!"Chapter 8, pg. 106
