At Buna they are quarantined for 3 days before being sent to the orchestra block. Elie and his father are assigned to work in a unit of prisoners whose job includes counting electrical fittings in a civilian warehouse with his father serving in the same unit. He meets new people including the Czech brothers Yossi and Tibi who wish to go to Palestine should they survive the camp. He also encounters a dentist who was supposed to remove his gold crown however he feigns illness twice to avoid the visits and when he returns once again he finds the dentist's office to be closed and that the dentist had been killed for selling gold teeth. Elie finds no pity for the dentist and is grateful to still have his gold crown because it has the potential to be very useful in the future especially for getting food which is becoming more and more of a problem for him. He is also beaten and then helped by a French girl who he would meet again in Paris in the future. The girl must have been brave for helping him and her advice to him was wise as will the brutal strength of the German resistance would have been far too dangerous.
The Jewish years ends and on New Year's Day Elie finds that where this day was once a huge event for him, now he cannot praise God but rather he blames God for all of the terrible things that have happened. Yom Kippur also came and Elie debated whether to fast or not. He ended up eating his food however he is feeling farther away from God. Although religious reasons may have told him not to eat, I think he made the right choice as with the food problems he was already experiencing, not eating that day would not have helped. Elie must also have s
urgery on his foot which comes at an inconvenient time as they soon are fleeing from the Red Army which is getting closer.
Symbols of the Jewish faith that Elie was having trouble maintaining
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