What is the condition of the train?

The train consists of a “convoy of cattle cars.” Each of the cars took in eighty Jews. The people were given bread and some pails of water. The windows of the cars are boarded up with bars, perhaps to ensure that nobody escapes. The lucky few deportees located near the windows are able to view the scenery of the countryside as the train moves along. Also, each car has somebody in charge. Anybody who tries to escape is shot dead. There is little air circulation in the cars, and after two days of travel most people are thirsty from the great heat. The cars are so crowded that people have to take turns to sit down. Because of these difficult traveling conditions, one of the deportees actually loses her mind and screams about visions of fire that she is having. It is heartbreaking when the narrator explains how the mad woman’s son clings to his mother during her sickening outbursts. The conditions in the train are so bad that the narrator suggests that they would have all “started to scream” had they spent a few more days in those cars.
During the long time spent traveling on the train, the deportees do not know where they are headed for. When they finally reach Auschwitz, they learn that it is their final destination.