“Ten minutes later, we stood in front of the warehouse. A German employee, a civilian, the Meister, came to meet us. He paid as much attention to us as would a shopkeeper receiving a delivery of old rags....
There were many Polish civilians here and a few French-women as well. The women silently greeted (some of the workers) with their eyes.”

Why did the Meister pay so little attention to them? What might he have been thinking?
Was there any sort of solidarity between the women and the Jews? Or did the women even care?


“There followed days and nights of traveling. Occasionally, we would pass through German towns. Usually, very early in the morning. German laborers were going to work. They would stop and look at us without surprise.
One day when we had come to a stop, a worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs. The worker watched the spectacle with great interest.”

How could German laborers not be surprised to see Jews stuck in trains? How could it be normal for them?
Why would the laborer toss bread into a wagon? Why take pleasure in others’ pain?