" 'The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don't die of it...' "(9). This statement by Elie's father shows the general optimism in Elie's home town, Sighet. When the Jewish population began to wear the star in Sighet, Elie was fifteen. Elie's father must have known the wickedness that lurked in the hearts of their soon to be captors. The wearing of the yellow star was a turning point from a slow creep to a fast dash in the death of the Sighet Jewish population. As Elie said, "The race toward death had begun"(8).

" 'Where is He (God)? Here He is--He is hanging here on this gallows...' "(62). The story of the young pipel cannot be told without emotion. Elie saw many hangings during his stay at the concentration camp but none had affected him like this one. Most pipels were despised by the prisoners, but this pipel was different; he was loved by all. He had the face of a sad angel. He and the Oberkapo were accused of sabotaging the electric power station and then sentenced to death. This hanging even affected the hard-hearted Nazi SS troops. Elie said, "To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter"(61). The kapo in charge of pulling out the chairs refused to do his job, and a SS trooper had to replace him. No other incident can vividly display the viciousness and hatred of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime.

" 'Thus I will harden Pharoh's heart...' "(Exodus 14:4 NASB) Hitler 's elite troops, the SS, were the best trained, best equipped fighting force in Europe. Instead of being spent in combat, a large part of the SS force was used in running the concentration camps. Such was the determination of Hitler to kill the Jews. There is no way to describe the absolute shock and disbelief of the Americans when the first Sherman tanks arrived at the gate of the death camps. It was "At about six o'clock in the evening, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald"(109). Elie was liberated from Hilter's attempt to eliminate the Jews, but he would find no liberation from his memories.