Chapter+16

= Chapter 16: A Devil Among Devils =

“ Auschwitz was at the edge of hell. No, it was hell itself. Working there, I became a devil among Devil’s, all of us prodding our victims toward disgrace and death.” (314)
“ all along the procession of prisoners, small children howled. Mothers tried to console them and not cry themselves. Old men and women stumbled. Young boys and girls found it hard to shuffle along at such a slow pace. “where is the water? Where are our belongings? Where will we be sleeping? There were no answers” (324)

**Summary:**
At the opening of this chapter, we learned Johann was posted to Auschwitz; “Hell itself”. Johann is haunted by the horrors of Auschwitz as he writes the name in his letter to Helga. A flashback begins in which Johann and doctor Schetzeler (presumably the same Dr. Schetzeler as was at Phillip’s residency) are waiting for a transport and conversing with SS doctor Josef Mengele about gardens. The garden is symbolic of Germany and Jews are the weeds poisoning the other plants. Among the Jews who arrive on the transport are a mother and a child. The girl looks like Greta, throwing Johann off balance momentarily. At a physicians staff meeting Mengele suggests experimentation for the sake of medical knowledge and progress on the Jews now being held at Auschwitz. Johann is assigned to castration. The first man he does, Daniel Aronsohn, he accidentally murders by a slice to the femoral artery. Johann and the nurse continue, taking semen samples through sodomy and slicing off testicles. It became routine.


 * Characters: **

Carl Clauberg-(320) Germany’s leading gynecologists

Schetzeler-(320) not married, accomplished gynecologists

Daniel Aronsohn- (320) was one of the first patients Johann did the procedure on, died instantly afterwards

Josef Mengele-(320) most important doctor in camp

Eduard Wirths- (328) camp’s chief medical officer


 * Vocabulary:**


 * Prodding** (319) – to jab or poke with a pointed object


 * Currants** (320) – any of varrous deciduous, spinless shrubs


 * Exuded** (321) – to emit ( a liquid or gas) gradually


 * Sustenance** (321) – the supporting of life or health maintenance


 * Noxious** (321) - harmful to living things; injuvious to health.


 * Calloued** (322) – emotionally hardened


 * Maccibre** (323) – suggesting the honor of death and decay; gruesome


 * Fetiel** (323) – having an offensive odor


 * Procession** (324) – a group of persons, vehicles or objects moving in an orderly, formal manor


 * Litany** (325) – a repetitive or incantatery recited


 * Staccato** (326) – short broken up and separated


 * Zyklon** (326) – poisonous gas used to kill prisoners in large numbers


 * Asphyxiated** (326) – to suffocate or choke

“ Auschwitz was at the edge of hell. No, it was hell itself. Working there, I became a devil among Devil’s, all of us prodding our victims toward disgrace and death.” (314)
“ all along the procession of prisoners, small children howled. Mothers tried to console them and not cry themselves. Old men and women stumbled. Young boys and girls found it hard to shuffle along at such a slow pace. “where is the water? Where are our belongings? Where will we be sleeping? There were no answers” (324)


 * Key Concepts and events:**

Grafeneck- 16th century castle, became an asylum for the physically and mentally disabled in 1929. The Nazis converted the grounds in 1939 and used the facility for Ahtian T-4. Modified bunks were used to perform the killings. The engine exhaust was piped into the sealed bunks.

Auschwitz (319)- the largest cluster of more than 300 Nazi killing and slave labor camps. Opened in April 1940, the first prisoners were German convicts. Zyhlen B was used to kill Russian POWs beginning in September 1941. Many thousands of Jews were killed beginning in February 1942.

Kapos (323)- a prisoner who was granted privileges by Nazi officials. Usually supervised work parties, worked in mess hall, while acting with brutality. “They’re happy enough to postpone their own fate for a month or two.”