September 1942, Auschwitz: the train carrying Max reaches its destination. The Nazis tells them to separate themselves from men and the women and children. By some chance, his former teacher, Herr Fritz Kalb, wearing the zebra stripes spots him and tells him to give him anything small and valuable (obviously to bribe some of the Nazi guards) and to tell the Nazis that he is eighteen and wants to work.
Doing so, he and the others are led to the concentration camp, where they are stripped of their clothes, shaved nearly bald, tattooed, and given the same zebra stripes Kalb is wearing. Afterwards, the Nazis enters their barracks and asks for anyone below sixteen who are included in the group. Three of the kids show themselves, despite Max's pleading, and are shown the way out -- and then promptly executed.
Later, when rations are being given out, Kalb tells Max how he is planning to get him transferred into the Kanada Kommando, the best work detail in camp. But until the bribe is put together, Max has to stay alive. The Nazis will "kill you if you break the rules. But do everything just as they say, and you'll starve to death within a month."
Later, Kapo -- apparently someone who has the privilege to give out work assignments -- approaches Max who will be transferred to Kalb's group. Unfortunately, though, a ranking Nazi officer, notices Kapo and hints that he needs one man to replace one lost in another work detail. Left with no choice, Kapo gives Max to the Nazi.
He learns shortly that he is now part of the Sonderkommando. Jewish women and children are told to strip down their clothes and belongings and will be taking a shower to be disinfected of a bogus louse infection. After all fo the women and children gets in the showers, the door slams shut and the Nazis release toxic gas at them.
The Sonderkommando are then told to gather up all of the belongings to a wagon and haul it off to one of the Kanada warehouses, where Kalb is holed up. There he sees a room piled up with eyeglasses, spoons, and other shiny, metallic objects. Imagine, if you can count the number of things in there and assume each one there belongs to one person... well, just look at the picture...
What follows is Max's letter (or confession) to whoever finds it:
My name is Max Eisendhardt. I've been a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years. I watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. I pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. I dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. And I carried them to the ovens, where I learned how to combine a child's body with an old man's to make them burn better. I saw thousands of murdered people burning in giant outdoor pits. I have seen at least a quarter million dead human beings with my own eyes and I couldn't save a single one any more than they could save me.
To whoever finds this, I'm sorry. Because I'm dead and now it's up to you. Tell anyone who will llisten. Tell everyone who won't. Please. Don't let this ever happen again.
He puts it inside a jar and buries it somewhere within campgrounds.
Max, almost losing sanity and doesn't care if he gets shot for stepping out of line and getting close to the fence suddenly finds hope when he saw a familiar glimmer of necklace from the past -- it's Magda and she's just one barbed-wire fence away.
Perhaps for the first time in years, Max smiles...
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