Journal #8

Journal #8-from chapter 8 In conclusion: theft in Buna, punished by the civil direction, is authorized and encouraged by the SS; theft in camp, severely repressed by the SS, is considered by the civilians as a normal exchange operation; theft among Haftlinge is generally punished, but the punishment strikes the thief and the victim with equal gravity. We now invite the reader to contemplate the possible meaning in the Lager of the words 'good' and 'evil', 'just' and 'unjust'; let everybody judge, on the basis of the picture we have outlined and of the examples given above, how much of our ordinary moral world could survive on this side of the barbed wire. This chapter was rather confusing and hard to understand, but once I read the conclusion at the end of the chapter I started to have a clear understanding of what the author was trying to say. I think the author is trying to say that as the audience we have the judgement of what is good and evil in the Lager. Things such as stealing is unmoral in the ordinary world, but in the Lager there are different meanings of "good" and "evil". If one needs to steal, it was moral to steal in the Lager. Basically the words "good" and "evil", "just" and "unjust" were different from the real world once you entered the concentration camp. From the stories that I read, I am able to understand this situation. Having to live in a horrible place as a concentration camp you wouldn't have the energy or time to think what is "good" and "evil", "just" and "unjust". Living by the ordinary moral world is no way any Jew can survive. Even though it was difficult to survive living the ordinary moral way was difficult when you are full of hunger everyday and have nothing with you. Having nothing and trying to survive it is difficult to live a moral life. I would also not live a moral life if I lived in a concentration camp. From this passage, I can also see that for humans to survive in some conditions it is necessary not to live the ordinary moral way.