Survival in Auschwitz (If this is a man) Theme of The Arbitrary and the Absurd

In Survival in Auschwitz, Auschwitz is governed by a set of illogical and bizarre rules, rituals and ceremonies that make Catch-22 look as straightforward as The Golden Rule. From seemingly everyday situations (like trying to find a pair of shoes that will fit) to moments of life or death (the selections), nothing in Auschwitz seems to abide by reason or logic. Instead, random chance, personal whim, and sudden, senseless violence rule the day. This makes it almost impossible for the prisoners to adapt to their surroundings, which is why so many of them turn into "mussulmen," and have little chance of surviving the experience.

1. The rule forbidding the prisoners from drinking water at first looks absurd, but turns out to have some sense. Why is this?
2. Why is it stupid and ironic that the prisoners have to make their beds in a particular way and have five buttons neatly sewn into their jackets at all times?
3. Where do we get hints that this system of absurd rules is present even on the outside?
4. One of the most absurd developments is that the factory doesn't ever produce any synthetic rubber. Do you think it was ever really meant to?

Part of what makes so many prisoners hopeless and demoralized is the arbitrary set of rules. The prisoners never know where they stand from minute to minute and they can't predict what consequences even their most basic actions might have. So why make decisions? Why even act? Most of us can go about our lives with a general idea that things are more or less predictable, and that if we do "A," then "B" will happen.

Having religious faith might be one way to cope with the rules and behaviors encountered in the camp, since it could serve as another system to make sense of (or at least cope with) the Auschwitz rules and regulations.