He lied so he could stay together with his father and not be sent directly to the gas chambers. Note* his book mentions nothing of the Gas chambers....which is suspicious...90 … % of people who passed through Auschwitz claim there were gassing chambers and that they did NOT burn people alive as Elie Wiesel claimed...e feels bad for the man that he hasn't seen his family in a very long time and therefore, Elie knows that if he tells stein the truth (his family is dead) that stein will kil … l himself. Elie wants to keep stein alive.