This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

Tadek is at work on a railroad track on a hot day in Harmenz, a subcamp of Auschwitz. A woman named Mrs. Haneczka greets him and offers to give him some food. Tadek declines, mentioning that he saved two pieces of expensive soap for her, but someone stole it. Tadek promises to take revenge on the thief. Mrs. Haneczka reassures him that someone named Ivan already gave her soap, and Tadek notes that they are the same pieces of soap that were stolen from him. Mrs. Haneczka leaves, promising that dinner will be under the chestnut tree. Becker, an old Jewish man, believes that Tadek ought to have taken the food Mrs. Haneczka offered. Tadek reproaches Becker and tells him that he’ll be glad when Becker is eventually gassed.

Becker was a prisoner at another camp, who was given leadership power and killed and punished people for stealing food. Becker even killed his own son, and his other son issued orders to have Becker killed. Becker comments that Tadek, who has only been in Auschwitz for a few months, has not felt real hunger as “real hunger is when one man regards another as something to eat” (54). Tadek tells Becker that there will be “a selection” (55) at the camp today, and Tadek hopes Becker will be chosen to die. 

As Tadek works, the Kommandofürer, an S.S. officer, talks to Tadek about news of the war. When Tadek takes out his watch, the officer tells Tadek to give it to him. When Tadek refuses, the officer smashes the watch. Tadek goes back to work and whistles several tunes. He attracts the attention of the Kapo when he starts to whistle “The International,” a socialist pro-worker anthem. The Kapo has an inverted red triangle on his prison uniform, signifying that he is a communist. With excitement and agitation, the Kapo asks Tadek about the song and starts singing “Red Flag.” 

As they walk away from the worksite, Tadek and his Kommando—his group of workers—pass a picturesque house where a young girl plays with her dog. The house belongs to the officer who runs Harmenz. When Tadek and his Kommando arrive at the food station, Tadek is pleased that no one has stolen their soup. There are five cauldrons marked with chalk that are designated for his Kommando. Tadek quickly switches a half-empty cauldron with a full one and then runs away as the men handing out the food yell insults at them. When the men open the cauldrons, they are silently disappointed to discover nettle soup, which is disgusting and primarily water. Tadek leaves the group and locates Ivan. Tadek gives Ivan the lard, and Ivan is annoyed that Mrs. Haneczka didn’t give him more for such fine soap. Tadek comments that he has seen the soap, which makes Ivan nervous. Tadek states, “You deserve more. Especially from me. And you’ll get it, I promise you…” (64).

As Tadek and his Kommando dig in a ditch, a guard approaches Tadek and offers bread in exchange for his shoes. The shoes are worth much more, so Tadek innocently claims that they belong to the camp so he cannot sell them. The guard asks why Tadek was imprisoned, and he claims that he was arrested in a round-up for no reason. The guard is skeptical, and Tadek tells of a friend who was incarcerated for singing the national anthem off-key. The guard tries to convince Tadek to go into an area where he will certainly be shot, but Tadek isn’t fooled. A higher officer appears and Janek, one of Tadek’s men, “who understands nothing of the ways of the camp and probably never will” (66), addresses the officer cheerfully and the officer hits him. The Kapo’s boy shows up, and Tadek mentions that the boy ought to pay attention to the geese because some of the prisoners were stealing them to eat, earning the Kapo a beating.

At mealtime, the prisoners must sit still while they are served. Rubin, a Jewish man on Canada detail, speaks quietly to the guards. They eat ravenously, and the Kapo catches one man licking his bowl and starts kicking him in the genitals. There are two more cauldrons of soup, and the Kapo relishes the power to choose which prisoners—the strongest and the healthiest, not those who will just be sent to the gas chamber soon—deserve a second helping. Because Tadek is a foreman, he gets two bowls of soup, filled from the bottom where the meat and potatoes settle. Tadek decides to give one bowl to Becker, telling him to “choke on it” (70) and the other to Andrei, the sailor who works in the apple orchard and will bring him fruit.

Tadek and Andrei see a women’s Kommando settling nearby. One girl is being punished, holding a heavy beam in the air because, as Andrei explains, she was caught in the cornfield with a man. The Kapo sends his boy to fetch Tadek and then screams at him for giving away his soup. Back at work, Tadek hears someone yelling. He finds Ivan kicking Becker’s face. Becker stole the dinner that Mrs. Haneczka left for Tadek under the chestnut tree. Ivan leaves and Tadek orders Becker to wash the bowl, telling him ominously that the Kapo commissioned four stretchers, adding, “You know what that means, don’t you?” (72).

Later, Tadek feels a bicycle strike him from behind. The Unterscharfürer, the man in charge of Harmenz, leaps off of the bike angrily. He demands that they kill the men who don’t know how to march, which Andrei does. The Unterscharfürer yells at the Kapo because another goose is missing. As Tadek’s Kommando is working, they are called to stop early. The S.S. soldiers line the prisoners up and start searching them, finding a goose in one of the men’s bags. Ivan stands up and claims that he stole the goose, taking a severe beating but never falling down. Tadek sees Mrs. Haneczka and notices that she is crying. Afterward, Tadek is in the barracks as a selection is taking place. Tadek feels responsible for the selection, as if saying it earlier caused it to happen. Becker comes in and tells them that he was selected to die, and he begs Tadek to feed him so he doesn’t have to die hungry. Tadek tells him to eat all he wants.