On that first night, Elie (p. 31) remembers that he had come "face to face with the Angel of Death." As he marched towards their new "home," he saw babies burned to death and vowed to never "forget those flames which consumed my faith forever." It was this faith in God that Elie would give up on over the next year.
Soon thereafter the physical toll would begin to take affect on these prisoners. While Elie and his father did not take part in hard labor throughout most of the imprisonment, they were subject to regular beatings, relegated to very minimal sustenance, and denied adequate medical care. Wiesel reflects on having a cup of coffee in the morning, a plate of soup in the afternoon, and a "ration" of bread at night on a typical day at Auschwitz (p. 40).
The physical torment that became commonplace at these concentration camps ranged from baton whacks to whip lashings (p. 55). Wiesel recalls frequent hangings at gallows that had been set up in the middle of the camp (pp. 58-59) simply for suspicion of a crime. Many of these hangings were said to be used as a deterrent and to set an example of the prisoners. However, the prisoners had to look no further than the crematories to fear their own demise. On numerous occasions, the Nazis would organize a "selection," which turned out to be somewhat of an audition for a prisoner's mortality. Elie and his comrades had to prove their worth by sprinting across the yard naked while the notoriously evil Dr. Mengele took tabs on who was healthy enough to remain in camp (p. 68).
As time passed by and the prisoners found themselves weaker through lack of food and medical care, many were chosen for death while others simply died from health hazards ranging from dysentery (as in Elie's father) to food poisoning (which Elie himself barely survived). Wiesel remarks at the end of the book how he looked after the liberation of Buchenwald (p. 109); he states: "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me.