Pages 143 through 182 Summary and Analysis

The women are often forced to strip for showers and examinations and their shoes are the only possessions they retain. In "A Handkerchief," Elli notes that her mother has one possession - a handkerchief with her initials embroidered on the corner - and that she keeps it wrapped around her foot inside her shoe. As they prepare for transportation yet again, Laura has trouble with the handkerchief because she is now partially paralyzed from the accident and an SS guard twists Laura's arm cruelly behind her back. Elli, forgetting everything, jumps onto the guard and is severely beaten, though it's noted she's fortunate that she wasn't killed for this unpardonable action. They are loaded again onto rail cars and shipped away from Auschwitz.

In "This Must Be Heaven," the train arrives at Augsburg. The women are unloaded and the...