Moishe the Beadle was a foreigner and a poor member of Eliezer's community in Sighet. He was one of the first people to witness the Nazi atrocities in Hungary after he was deported and miraculously survived the Gestapo's firing squad. When he returned to Sighet, he told the community about his horrific experience and said that the Nazis took the foreign Jews to Poland where they slaughtered men, women, and children. He mentions that babies were tossed into the air and used as targets for machine guns while men dug their own graves before being shot. Moishe pleads to the citizens to listen to his story and believe him. When Eliezer asks Moishe why it is so important that people believe his story, Moishe tells him, "I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you my death so that you might ready yourselves while there is still time" (Wiesel 7). Moishe hopes that the community will believe him and start preparing to leave their small town before the Nazis arrive. He does not want the rest of the Jews in Sighet to experience a similar fate. Unfortunately, the Jews living in Sighet do not believe him and suffer through similar atrocities when the Nazis arrive.
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