Chapter 9
Elie stays in Buchenwald until April 11th. During this period, Elie is emotionally numb. "After my father's death, nothing could touch me any more." Chapter 9, pg. 107
As the front draws ever closer, the Germans decide to liquidate the camp. But on April 10th, as the prisoners gather for an assembly, the camp resistance successfully takes control of Buchenwald. The Germans do not put up a fight. At about six o'clock in the evening, American tanks arrive.
The first thing the prisoners do as free men is to go through the provisions. They think not of revenge, nor their families, but of bread. Three days after the liberation of Buchenwald, Elie suffers from food poisoning and spends two weeks in the hospital between life and death. One day, Elie gathers enough strength to get up and look in the mirror. He had not seen himself since the ghetto. He stares into someone unrecognizable: "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me." Chapter 9, pg. 109
Topic Tracking: Death 10
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