Chapter 6 begins with the evacuation of the Buna concentration camp. The Jewish prisoners are forced to march in the middle of a blizzard at night. Eliezer comments that the SS guards made them increase their speed until the prisoners were running. The SS had orders to shoot any prisoners who were not keeping up with the pace of the group, and Eliezer mentions that he would occasionally hear shots while he was running. He also comments that he was moving like a machine, and he was dragging his "emaciated body." Eliezer wishes that he could shed his body and comments, "Though I tried to put it out of my mind, I couldn't help thinking that there were two of us: my body and I" (Wiesel 85). Eliezer's foot is severely injured, and his body is weak from malnutrition, yet he is forced to run at a brisk pace or he will be shot. Eliezer distinguishes the difference between his body and his mind. He knows that his body is too weak to do what his mind wants it to. Eliezer wishes that he could shed his body because he is physically worn out. Mentally, Eliezer has the capacity to withstand such a brutal experience and make it to Gleiwitz.
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