Survival in Auschwitz PDF

Preview

Summary

Survival in Auschwitz...

Description

Ashley Orozco Professor Nili Keren Holocaust Literature 23 February 2015 Book Report on Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi Born into an Italian Jewish family on July 31st, 1919, Primo Levi was forced to see and witness on firsthand account pure Nazi terror. In 1943, Levi was captured by the Fascists at the ripe age of 24 in a forest with a small group of anti-Fascist partisans. Levi has said himself, that being captured at such a young age, “[he had] little wisdom, no experience and a decided tendency […] to live in an unrealistic world of [his] own, a world inhabited by civilized Cartesian phantoms, by sincere male and bloodless female friendships”. They were all sent to a detention camp, or transit camp, in Fòssoli, Italy. While there, the number 17517 was tattooed on Primo Levi’s left forearm where it would stay until he took his own life in 1987. From the transit camp, he was transported to Moniwitz-Auschwitz two months later. At Auschwitz, Levi was forced to endure hard labor and live through the harsh and terrorizing conditions that Nazi Germany was shelling out. Primo Levi was a chemist with a degree from a large university in Italy before he was taken in, so he was a meek, weak, and klutzy man, making the hard labor that was given to him even more challenging. While in Auschwitz, he was able to take a test in the hopes of working in a laboratory under the chemists. Because of this, Levi was able to find more ways in which he could survive in the camp and ultimately made it out of Auschwitz alive. Throughout Survival in Auschwitz, I found one part to be especially thought provoking. About halfway through the book, Levi has dreams in his bunk during some of the first nights of

Orozco 2 being at the camp. His dreams consist of being at home and wanting and attempting to tell his friends and family all about the conditions that he is currently enduring, yet none of them want to listen to him. As he is telling them these stories and accounts, they are treating him as if he does not exist and that they cannot hear him as they talk amongst themselves. I found it to be quite chilling that there were also others in Levi’s bunk on that same night that just so happen to experience this dream. They are all taken back by how they are all feeling neglected and mistreated at the camp, even in their own dreams. This part of the book truly showed how being in the camps at Auschwitz affected each and every single one of the prisoners in every single form that it could have possibly affected these people. The thoughts consumed their whole beings and they were not able to escape from them even when they were in their own minds. Another interesting point that I found in Survival in Auschwitz, was while I was reading the entirety of chapter seven, because Levi was describing the details of a “good day” in the span of their time at Auschwitz. A good day started with the sun. The sun was a huge factor in how things were going in the camps. They were in the midst of winter and had to endure the cold and the freezing temperatures outside with no means of any type of winter-like clothing. The sun was at least able to give them some warmth and comfort while doing the hard labor that they were forced to do in the camps. The sun was almost like a kind of hope that they were going to survive while in Auschwitz. On top of the sun being a resource for them, the Kommando organizer of their labor work, Templer, was able to find eleven gallons of soup in one of the leftover pots for their whole entire group of workers, which was a huge victory in the battle of starvation for every person in Auschwitz.

Orozco 3 There is a constant speak of the battle of “good” and “evil” in Survival in Auschwitz, and it was clearly evident as I was reading the passages in chapter eight. In Auschwitz, there is a form of exchanging between the prisoners and is very illegal if one were to be caught by the soldiers and guards. In the novel, Primo Levi describes on numerous accounts that the words “good” and “evil” and “just” and “unjust” are not nearly as meaningful in a place like Auschwitz as they are in the outside world. It shows that Auschwitz is truly a world of its own in comparison to the outside world where there is actual empathy and humanity that resides in the individuals outside of the camp. By far one of the most impressive and most memorable people in the novel was in chapter two when Levi meets the little boy named Schlome at the camp. Schlome warns Primo of drinking the water, as he says that if you were to drink the water that you would blow up, which was a common concern at Auschwitz or any other camp. Schlome then hugs Primo, and I found this to be one of the most impressive things in the novel about Schlome, and this is because he was able to show Primo one of the first and only signs that humanity still resides in the camp at Auschwitz. Primo Levi met Schlome in the beginning of the novel which makes it seem like everyone in the camp was ready to stick together during the fight for survival, but in reality, everybody that was in the camp ending up being complete individuals and heartless in their plights to live. Another impressive person in the novel that I found to make quite the impact on the novel and on Primo Levi himself was Lorenzo. We get to meet Lorenzo in chapter twelve which is much later on in the novel, but he still made a huge impact in the novel and the overall survival of Primo Levi as well. Primo actually contributed his survival in Auschwitz to Lorenzo because

Orozco 4 of how kind he was. Lorenzo was a civilian that befriended Primo and was able to provide him with extra food and extra clothing to be able to take care of him. He even went as far as risking his own life to be able to send a postcard for Primo to his family back in Italy. Lorenzo was a prime example in Survival in Auschwitz that there were still hopes for survival and that there were still wholesome people left that Primo could count on as he was struggling to hold on to his life and keeping a sane mind while he was in the camp. The character that I felt was the most memorable in Survival in Auschwitz was at the end of the novel when Primo Levi befriended Charles. Charles was able to accompany Primo and help him in the last days of their survival together. They were prepared to face death together when the Germans fled the camp and were waiting for Russians to arrive while they were waiting at the Ka-Be. Charles witnessed some of the most gruesome and horrific scenes that could be seen with Primo when they were in the clinic together after the Germans fled Auschwitz. At the end of the novel, Primo mentions that he has written to Charles and plans to meet him again one day, which can be seen as a beautiful thing because Charles is the one thing that Primo wanted to be able to keep and maintain in life outside of Auschwitz, which he did, where they can live and be friends without the constant struggle of survival being an issue at hand. My opinion on the novel Survival in Auschwitz has completely changed my view on the Holocaust as a whole. Reading a firsthand account on the experiences that were endured and the thoughts that went through the mind of Primo Levi and others around him was so much different than learning about the Holocaust as an outsider looking in. Levi was able to transform the world

Orozco 5 in which I live in and put me in a completely different time and place as I feel that I was able to witness the Holocaust just as much as he was able to live through it. Primo Levi has been known to be one of the most influential writers of a century. He is seen as a role model for many because of the hardships and agony that he has had to face in such a short period of time during the Holocaust and in his novel, Survival in Auschwitz, the issues that he had to face and the people that he spent this time with have made such a huge impact on a gigantic audience....