The battle for control of Buchenwald took only a few hours. Wiesel describes how the resistance fighters quickly overpowered the remaining SS guards: "The battle lasted a few hours. We had won. The SS were running in all directions. The last one fled on the evening of April 11" (Chapter 5). This brief battle highlights the fact that the SS guards were not willing to fight to the death for the concentration camp they had been guarding. Instead, they quickly abandoned their posts and fled as soon as they realized they were outnumbered. This further emphasizes the cowardice and lack of conviction of the SS guards, who were willing to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty against defenseless prisoners but were not willing to risk their own lives in a fight.