Maus 2

Tara Finn

Hara

6 November 2007

RR # 3

Mala Left Vladek and took his money, leaving him alone, again. He faked having a heart attack so that Artie would come stay with him. Artie reveals that if he had to choose one of his parents to save from the ovens he would have picked his mother; he then begins to wonder if that is normal. Artie also begins to wonder if he would have got along with his brother, Richieu, if he was still alive. Artie then feels a little sibling rivalry with his dead brother because if he were still alive, then he could have gone to take of their father. Artie feels guilty for having such an easier life than his parents and sometimes wishes that could have been there with them in Auschwitz, just so he could feel what they went through. He goes to his father’s house and everyone thinks that he his either coming to live with Vladek or taking him back to his own house. They argue about all the bank statement because the addition is off, even though it is incorrect by less than a dollar. After fighting, Vladek beings his story where he left off, about Auschwitz and how he and Anja were separated for the first time. There he ran into Abraham, the one who wrote the letter saying Hungary was great, and he was told that he must dictate Yiddish or he would be shot. Vladek was very upset and began to cry. He was approached by a priest who looked at his number. He noticed that it began with a seventeen, which is a very good omen in the Jewish faith. He also noticed that the last number thirteen, was the age that a boy becomes a man. The middle numbers added up to eighteen, which is “chai” that Jewish number for life. The supervisor of the barracks asked who knew how to speak English and Polish because he wanted to learn how to speak English. Because Vladek was able to help him, the supervisor told him to stand on the left side of the room. This way, he would be saved from the gas the next day. This man was also able to get him tailored clothes and leather shoes.

All of the sudden, the time jumps forward and Vladek dies on August 18, 1982. Artie’s book is published and his son is born. Yet, he feels like his life is going no where and does not know what to do. His therapist thinks that Artie feels guilty for being successful because it is nothing compared to what his father went through in Auschwitz. He then turn back on the tape recordings to hear his father’s story. Vladek was talking about the horrible, rotten, and small portioned food that was not enough to supply any energy for work, let alone a life. He described the second camp, Birkenau, where Anja was. It was worse there then in camp one. People were sent there to die. They began communicating through a Hungarian helper named Mancie. She was willing to trade letters and report back on each of their heaths. Vladek had the chance to go visit Anja because many of the roofs needed to be fixed. He was beaten because he was caught talking to Anja in passing. He was sent back to camp one and became a shoe maker. He was lucky enough to earn a warm sausage because he was able to fix an officer’s shoe. The Germans were building new barracks for the women in camp one. In order to get Anja closer to him, Vladek, arranged bribes. Vladek was in Auschwitz for ten months and went through four different jobs. The Russians were coming closer and the Germans wanted to rid any evidence of the gas chambers and kill the Jews somewhere else in quiet. Artie was questioning why people did not resist and Vladek explained that the Jews always had hope but were so tired.