what does eli mean when he says that god is hanged upon the gallows with the young pipel?in what way is this hanging of the boy symbolic of the jewish race

Eli has lost all sense of innocence at this point. He is loosing his faith. How can God forsake such a little angel. Elie wonders if the hanging is the death of his belief as well, the death of hid God. If Jews so devoutly follow a God that could let this happen, they might as well all die the same way, they might as well welcome extinction.

The hanging of the young boy greatly affects all inhabitants of the concentration camps. It arouses feelings of pity and sorrow that are a rarity in the jaded atmosphere of the death camp. The Nazis intend the public hangings to be an unspoken threat to the prisoners to keep them in line. However, they seem to cross the line when they hang the child. Even though they kill thousands in the crematory on a daily basis, the hanging of the child becomes an act of unspeakable and horrid cruelty. The prisoners all weep, and Eliezer feels like the Nazis have succeeded in killing God himself: "Behind me, I heard the same man asking: ŒWhere is God now?' And I heard a voice within me answer him: ŒWhere is He? Here He is‹He is hanging here on this gallows.'" In killing the child, the Nazis come dangerously close to destroying Eliezer's faith in God. Wiesel writes, "That night the soup tasted of corpses." After witnessing the execution, Eliezer feels like death is everywhere, and he is unable to enjoy his soup because all goodness has been destroyed.