But they did see reason if they were told that a normal workman did not live on 10 1/2 ounces of bread
(theoretically—actually we often had less) and 1 3/4 pints of thin soup per day;
that a normal laborer did not live under the mental stress we had to submit to, not having news of our families,
who had either been sent to another camp or gassed right away;
that a normal workman was not threatened by death continuously, daily and hourly.
I even allowed myself to say once to a kindly foreman,
“If you could learn from me how to do a brain operation in as short a time as I am learning this road work from you,
I would have great respect for you.” And he grinned.
Apathy, the main symptom of the second phase, was a necessary mechanism of self-defense.
Reality dimmed, and all efforts and all emotions were centered on one task: preserving one’s own life and that of the other fellow.
It was typical to hear the prisoners, while they were being herded back to camp from their work sites in the evening,
sigh with relief and say, “Well, another day is over.”
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