Meir Katz remained on the train. The last day had been the most lethal. We had been a hundred or so in this wagon. Twelve of us left it. Among them, my father and myself. The author’s main purpose in this excerpt is to show that few survived the horrific train ride. the author and his father were safe. Meir Katz was not as strong as he seemed. Meir Katz was left behind to remove the dead.