Summary

The prisoners run manically through the night in bitter-cold snow. The SS shoot all prisoners who fall behind. Elie welcomes death as pain and cold settle in, but he fights to survive as his only means of defiance. Also, concern for his father motivates him not to give up. Elie's father encourages him to get out of the snow and into an abandoned factory. They take turns keeping each other awake to prevent themselves from freezing. Many men freeze to death under a blanket of snow and are trampled. An elderly rabbi Eliahou searches the factory for his son. Elie conceals the fact that his son tried to save himself by outrunning Eliahou, who had become a burden to him. Disturbed by the son's disloyalty, Elie prays to the same God he has rejected to prevent him from abandoning his own father.

Even the Germans grow...