Chapter Four

In chapter 4 the dentists have to check all the Jews in Buna for gold crowns on their teeth, and Elie has his gold crown removed. He fakes being sick, but he discovers that the dentist is hanged. Elies only focus is to eat and try his best to stay alive. He is beaten very badly by his kapo, Idek, and is comforted by a French worker. The prison foreman, Franek, notices that Elie still has his gold crown and he demands it, but Elie refuses. Then Franek beats Elies father so he gives up the crown. Elie catches Idek having sex with a Polish girl. Idek whips him and warns him not to say anyhing or else he will pay the consequences and be severely punished.

 During an air raid two containers of soup are left unattended, so a prisoner crawls to them but is shot right before eating some. The Nazis hang three prisoners at camp, the last one was a boy loved by all, so this causes most of  the prisoners to cry. This chapter reall shows the desperartion of the prisoners to stay alive, like the man trying to steal soup. It also shows how brutal the camps could be and how prisoners were beaten so much.