Chapter 6

Throughout the blizzard, the prisoners are evacuated from Buna. They are made to keep running until they reach their destination. The SS makes them increase their pace and shots those who stop running. A boy running next to Elie can not run any further. His name is Zalman. He stops running and is trampled under the feet of thousands of men to his death. Elie is exhausted and weakened by his injured foot, but forces himself to run along with the other prisoners for his father's sake.

After running all of this time, the prisoners find themselves in Gleiwitz. Rabbi Eliahou ends up where Eliezer and his father are. He is looking for his son. Throughout the time of the concentration camps, father and son have supported each other. Elie tells Rabbi Eliahou he has not seen the son, but when actually during the run, her saw the son abandon his father, and running ahead when it seemed Rabbi Eliahou would not survive. In Gleiwitz, Elie finds an old friend, Juliek, a boy from Warsaw who plays the violin. They speak a little and then try to sleep. Once he finds some breathing room, and, Elie discovers that his father is near. Elie falls asleep to the sound of Juliek's violin. However, when he wakes up he finds Juliek dead, and his violin smashed.