Sometimes, in situations of great danger, one must abandon their compassion towards others to survive. This is a human instinct, abandoning a usually vital part of their lives to secure the rest of it. So yes, sometimes people have to abandon compassion to survive a horrible situation.
In the book, on page 26, multiple people on the train car to Birkenau abandon their compassion to make their situations better and more peaceful. They beat Mrs. Schachter, after binding and gagging her, to get her to shut up about the “fires” everyone thinks she is simply hallucinating. When they get to Birkenau, they all find out that she wasn’t hallucinating, though, so they all feel horrible for beating her.
Moving on, a further example on people abandoning
In the book, on page 26, multiple people on the train car to Birkenau abandon their compassion to make their situations better and more peaceful. They beat Mrs. Schachter, after binding and gagging her, to get her to shut up about the “fires” everyone thinks she is simply hallucinating. When they get to Birkenau, they all find out that she wasn’t hallucinating, though, so they all feel horrible for beating her.
Moving on, a further example on people abandoning