Chapter 2

“…As for the high numbers they carry an essentially comic air about them, like the words ‘freshmen’ or ‘conscript’ in ordinary life. The typical high number is a corpulent, docile, and stupid fellow: he can be convinced that leather shoes are distributed at the infirmary to all those with delicate feet, and can be persuaded to run there and leave his bole of soup ‘in your custody’; you can sell him a spoon for three rations of bread, you can send him to the most ferocious of the Kapos to ask him (as happened to me!) if it is true that his is the Kartoffelschalenkommando, the ‘Potato Peeling Command’, and if one can be enrolled in it.(28)”

If life everywhere there are winners and losers. I guess that the concentration camp also had this rule. The newer residents were tricked and confused by other older members who should have had to wisdom and empathy to tell them about real life in the concentration camp. But the didn’t. Sure it was funny that these ignorant newcomers would go asking to be part of the Potato Peeling Command, but that wasn’t all of it. These old prisoners were indirectly teaching new prisoners to know the rules of the camp. We learn best my mistakes, so when the newer prisoners were told to get new shoes, and it wasn’t real, they learned survival skills. Some of these included not trusting anyone, and learning the power of the officials. But why wouldn’t the old prisoners look down on the new prisoners, and instead of saying, “ha ha, your life sucks” say something like, let me show the ropes here. With all the persecution, you would think that those who had been beaten would say, I have love for my fellow man, and would help him. Maybe it had something to do with that they were not shown the way, so they had so sympathy for others, but maybe it had something to do with the language and clash of cultures once again. Since they couldn’t understand each other, not just verbally, but also culturally, they segregated themselves. These men weren’t Jews, they should have known that all around. People of the same culture will bond together. These men didn’t. What is a man, its not his past, but he does right now. Unfortunately, the Germans judged on the past.