What does everyone do in the boxcars that upsets Fayge and the mother of the dead child

People start telling awful stories. Other horrific stories emerge, but they are quickly dismissed as gossip and simple stories. Hannah asks why they do not break out and run. Where would they run to? she is asked. "America," she answers. The villagers insist that this is their home. "What about Israel?" asks Hannah. Gitl chuckles. "And where is Israel, except in our prayers?" she says. The mother of the dead child complains the stories are killing her baby.