Anamul is one of four children in his family; he is the only boy. The family lives in their hometown of Sighet, located in Transylvania (now formally known as Romania). Anamul is raised with an Orthodox Jewish upbringing, and it is expected that he will follow the religion closely and study the Talmud, Jewish law. Both of Anamul's parents are devout Jews and respected members of their community. Despite Anamul's Orthodox Jewish upbringing, he is interested in studying the Kabbalah, a mystical interpretation of the Bible, which goes against Orthodox Jewish beliefs. Since Elie wants to learn more, he turns to his friend, Moishe the Beadle, for knowledge on the Kabbalah.
The Hungarians force all foreign Jews, including Moishe, from Sighet, signifying the first anti-Semitic act. When Moishe returns months later by escaping from his captors, he tries to warn the Jews about Nazi brutality, but instead, he is faced with laughter. He informs the Jews that the deportation trains are controlled by the Gestapo (German Secret Police) at the Polish border, and he describes with detail how Jews were forced to dig their own graves, only to be killed thereafter by the Gestapo. Yet, despite the warnings given, the Jews do not believe his stories, and Moishe becomes known as being foolish.
In 1944, the Hungarian government falls to the fascists, resulting in Germany occupying Hungary. At this point, even though the Holocaust began in 1941, the Jews hold on to a belief that Nazi anti-Semitism will be confined to Budapest, the capital city of Hungary; however, they are wrong. When the Nazis enter the town of Sighet, Martha, the Wiesels' servant, offers to help the family hide from the Nazis, but Anamul's father declines the offer. The Nazis push into Sighet, beginning a series of oppressive measures placed on the Jews:
Every Jew has to wear a yellow star.
No Jew can wear gold, jewelry, or any valuables.
All community leaders are arrested.
All the Jews are confined in small ghettos, crowded behind barbed wire.
The Nazis break the community into two ghettos: a smaller ghetto and a larger ghetto. Anamul's and his family are in the larger ghetto and are expelled to cattle cars a couple of days after the Jews in the smaller ghetto are taken away. The Jews are put in crowded cattle cars and thus their journey begins to the concentration camp, Auschwitz.
Concentration camps were aimed to eliminate people (mostly Jews) and to exploit the forced labor of the prisoners. Millions of Jews were imprisoned and murdered in these camps. At Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp, there were four gas chambers that aimed to kill in mass quantities.