Patrick Joshua Gomez Baldovino III - Corinthians June 30, 2011 Elezier, together with his family and

other Jews were forced to be deported by the Germans to a concentration camp. They were placed in a cattle car which had at least eighty people in it. This was the time where all their hardships began. The soldiers treated them like animals; they didn t feed them and gave them water rarely. Aside from that, they had to fit inside a very small space. People had to take turns sitting down just so they could rest for a while. When they reached the concentration camp, the women and men were separated and that was the last time that Elezier saw her mother and sisters. Elezier and his father were transferred in different concentration camps several times. In their camps they had been given rations of bread and soup, they got new set of clothes. They are also forced to work for a certain time and if they don t do it properly they get a beaten up by the soldiers. The Jews who were weak or sick were either killed or left out to die. However, the worst of it all was that they had their identity changed. The Germans had given them a number as an identity. Elezier and his father started to live with only one goal: to survive. They were like a team because they were always together and also help each other out. But one day, Elezier s father started to become sickly. He tried to do everything to save him. He gave up his food ration for a comfortable space in the bunker and begged the clinic doctor to do everything that he could do so that he could save him, but his father had lost the will to live. His father wanted to rest peacefully and there was nothing that changed his mind. Elezier s father died. When this had happen, Elezier didn t care about anything anymore except to eat. He even wants to get an extra ration. One day, an announcement was made. All of the captives were gathered together and group by group they were set free. Elezier s youthfulness gave him an advantage in the concentration camps. He was able to do the work that he was forced to do and because of this he gets less beating compared to his father who was old and weak. In page 30, he admitted that his age was fifteen while his father admitted that he was fifty. But in spite of that, he did not finish well. He might have gotten out of the concentration camp, but the life he lived after that was a life that he thinks of himself as a corpse. In page 115, after getting out of the hospital he looked himself at the mirror and said to himself that he was just looking at a corpse.

I don t think I would have been able to handle the situation of Elezier any better because he wasn t in control of his situation. Just like him, I would have been following the instruction of the authority there. But if there s anything that I would have handled better is that after all he has experience in the concentration camps, I would have used that experience to reach out to people and share to world how God has been great in my life for letting me live through that experience. My parents had taught me ever since I was a child that I must obey whoever is in authority. But they had also taught me that, the only time I could disobey the authority was when they will me give instructions that will not glorify God. Elezier had done everything that their authority had commanded. Just like him, I will also follow the commands of the authority. I live in a very comfortable home, with air-conditioned bedrooms, my own bed with a mattress and pillows, and even a helper that does the house chores for me. So if I were in Elezier s situation, it might be very difficult for me because I m not used to that kind of environment and way of living. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength says Philippians 4:13. Nothing will be impossible if we believe and have faith in Christ. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me says in Psalm 31:3. He will show us the right path. But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil. Proverbs 1:33. We should not fear our situation because he will protect us from evil.