Summary

Crammed between dead and live bodies, Elie begins to lose hope of surviving. By morning, he locates his father's wilting body but gets no response from Chlomo. The train halts in a deserted field to dump several hundred corpses. Elie slaps Chlomo awake to save him from the "grave diggers," a euphemism for an unfeeling crew who abandons corpses on the ground. The prisoners live on snow for ten days traveling through the German countryside. A German workman instigates a stampede by tossing bread to starving men, who brawl with each other for scraps. Other Germans mimic the condescending gesture by initiating more deadly scrambles for vitals. A son named Meir beats his father and snatches a crust from his grasp; both men die as others join in the deadly scuffle for bread.

During an unprovoked attack on Elie, Chlomo and Meir Katz fend off a...