“Hey, kid, how old are you?”

The man interrogating me was an inmate. I could not see his face, but his voice was weary and warm.

“Fifteen.”

“No. You’re eighteen.”

“But I’m not,” I said. “I’m fifteen.”

“Fool. Listen to what I say.”

Then he asked my father, who answered:

“I’m fifty.”

“No.” The man now sounded angry. “Not fifty. You’re forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty.”

Why does the prisoner insist that Wiesel and his father lie about their ages?

A)He is probably deranged because of the conditions in the concentration camp.

B)He wants to win the favor of the Nazi guards.

C)He is trying to save their lives.

D)He considers them a threat and is trying to get rid of them.