Epic Resilience
And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
Bath and Light
THIS BOOK DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE an account of facts and events but of personal experiences,
experiences which millions of prisoners have suffered time and again. It is the inside story of a
concentration camp, told by one of its survivors. This tale is not concerned with the great horrors,
which have already been described often enough (though less often believed), but with the
multitude of small torments. In other words, it will try to answer this question: How was everyday
life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?
Most of the events described here did not take place in the large and famous camps, but in the small
ones where most of the real extermination took place. This story is not about the suffering and
death of great heroes and martyrs, nor is it about the prominent Capos—prisoners who acted as
trustees, having special privileges—or well-known prisoners. Thus it is not so much concerned with
the sufferings of the mighty, but with the sacrifices, the crucifixion and the deaths of the great army
of unknown and unrecorded victims. It was these common prisoners, who bore no distinguishing
marks on their sleeves, whom the Capos really despised. While these ordinary prisoners had little or
nothing to eat, the Capos were never hungry; in fact many of the Capos fared better in the camp
than they had in their entire lives. Often they were harder on the prisoners than were the guards,
and beat them more cruelly than the SS men did. These Capos, of course, were chosen only from
those prisoners whose characters promised to make them suitable for such procedures, and if they
did not comply with what was expected of them, they were immediately demoted. They soon
became much like the SS men and the camp wardens and may be judged on a similar psychological
basis.
Wunder Kammer
THIS BOOK DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE an account of facts and events but of personal experiences,
experiences which millions of prisoners have suffered time and again. It is the inside story of a
concentration camp, told by one of its survivors. This tale is not concerned with the great horrors,
which have already been described often enough (though less often believed), but with the
multitude of small torments. In other words, it will try to answer this question: How was everyday
life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?
Most of the events described here did not take place in the large and famous camps, but in the small
ones where most of the real extermination took place. This story is not about the suffering and
death of great heroes and martyrs, nor is it about the prominent Capos—prisoners who acted as
trustees, having special privileges—or well-known prisoners. Thus it is not so much concerned with
the sufferings of the mighty, but with the sacrifices, the crucifixion and the deaths of the great army
of unknown and unrecorded victims. It was these common prisoners, who bore no distinguishing
marks on their sleeves, whom the Capos really despised. While these ordinary prisoners had little or
nothing to eat, the Capos were never hungry; in fact many of the Capos fared better in the camp
than they had in their entire lives. Often they were harder on the prisoners than were the guards,
and beat them more cruelly than the SS men did. These Capos, of course, were chosen only from
those prisoners whose characters promised to make them suitable for such procedures, and if they
did not comply with what was expected of them, they were immediately demoted. They soon
became much like the SS men and the camp wardens and may be judged on a similar psychological
basis.