In
chapter 4, Elie recalls witnessing the horrific hanging of a young pipel, who was beloved by the
prisoners in the camp. Elie describes the boy as being angelic and beautiful. After a stash of
weapons is found in the Oberkapo's block, the pipel is tortured before being sentenced to death
by hanging. During the hanging, the pipel's body is too light, and he continues to breathe as he
hangs from the rope. For a half an hour, the pipel dangles from the rope, "lingering
between life and death." The prisoners are forced to watch the delicate, beautiful child
hang to death in the middle of the prison. Elie mentions that the pipel was still alive when he
walked past him. When one prisoner begins to ask where God is, Elie silently answers,
Where He is? This is wherehanging here from this gallows . .
.(90)
Elie then says that the soup tasted like corpses
later that night. Elie's response to the prisoner asking about God and his statement about the
soup tasting like corpses could be interpreted as him beginning to question his faith. Watching
the young child hanging to death is a traumatic experience for Elie, who truly understands the
horror that surrounds him in the concentration camps. Elie's comment about God hanging from the
gallows also indicates that there is no presence of mercy or God's grace during the Holocaust.
Essentially, Elie believes that God is dead after witnessing the pipel's horrific
death.
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