the Jewish prisoners to not lose hope and tells them to "muster your strength and keep your faith." He proceeds to instruct the Jewish prisoners to maintain their faith at all times because losing hope will lead to death. His last piece of advice is that the prisoners should have camaraderie amongst each other because they are all in the same desperate situation. The Pole goes on to tell the prisoners to help each other and believes that is the only way they will survive. As the story progresses, Elie witnesses numerous acts of violence and hostility between the Jewish prisoners. He even watches a son kill his own father over a piece of bread. These cruel acts of violence between the prisoners emphasize the extent of hostility and lawlessness present during the Holocaust.

Night author Elie Wiesel and his father were at Auschwitz for three weeks before they were transferred to Buna. While at Auschwitz, the prisoner in charge of their block was a young man from Poland, who was the first kind person the Jews from Sighet encountered. After arriving in this Pole's block late at night, he has some advice for them. He tells them them not to lose their courage--that they've already escaped "selection," which is the biggest danger. He encourages the Jews to have faith that they will survive this. He tells them that he believes they will see liberation if they can keep their faith in life.

"Above all else, have faith. Drive out despair, and you will keep death away from yourselves.  Hell is not for eternity. And now, a prayer--or rather, a piece of advice: let there be comradeship among you.  We are all brothers, and we are all suffering the same fate. The same smoke floats over all our heads. Help one another.  It is the only way to survive." (Wiesel 38-39)

In a place where humanity has taken a vacation, this man tells the new prisoners that they must not lose theirs. He wants them to look at one another as brothers rather than strangers and to continue to care about each other no matter how bad things might become.