The novel Survival in Auschwitz was written by Primo Levi, an italian jew who was in hiding in an anti fascist group in the woods. Along with the other renaissance men he is living with, they are captured by the Nazis and taken to a holding camp. Before they are transferred, an SS officer tells them that for every person who escapes or tries to run away, ten other random prisoners will be shot. The SS officers also ask all of the Jews for their jewelry, and money since they “wont need them anymore”. Primo is then later taken to Auschwitz, where they are given numbered tattoos and must show them when they need to get food or drink. Primo meets a young boy named Schlome, who gives him many tips on how to survive here, Schlome then hugs Primo and it is the first act of kindness he has …show more content…
seen since he has been at camp.
“Here we received the first blows: and it was so new and senseless that we felt no pain, neither in body nor in spirit. Only a profound amazement: how can one hit a man without anger?” (1.16) Throughout the book, Primo questions how humans can treat other humans this way, but to the Nazis the Jews were not viewed as humans, and Primo soon learns that. After many countless hours of work Primo begins to starve, gets sores on his feet, and suffers from the wet and cold. He starts to think its the end, but Steinlauf gives him an important lesson, its important to hang on to as much of their humanity as they can. Yet again Primo gets hurt and cuts his foot very badly, but since it isn't broken he is told to keep working. In August 1944, the camp is buzzing with rumors that the Allies are landing in Normandy and are attempting to kill Hitler and end his reign. There are also many Russian attacks fairly close to the camp so some nights there are no food, water, or light at Auschwitz. During the air raids from the Russians, the Jews are not allowed to enter the bomb shelters and are to fend for themselves,
luckily Primo meets yet another amazing person. Lorenzo helps Primo, he gives him “extra” of his own food and even gets a postcard delivered to Primo’s family in Italy. In meeting Lorenzo, Primo remembers to keep the faith and that even in this camp there are still many good people and still good in the world and there is something to live for. Now beginning winter and many of the men die, but there is still an “excess” number of men in the camp so selections will be made on who is sent to the gas chambers and who will survive. When Primo first came to Auschwitz he came with 96 other Italian Jews, now there are only 21 of them left living. In the next 10 days many of Primo’s bunkmates die, “the pile of bodies outside of Ka-Be gets bigger and bigger.” January 27th, Primo and the remaining Italian Jews are carrying out one of their friend’s Sómogyi’s body outside and the Russian Soldiers arrive at camp. The remaining 3 men out of the original 96 that have arrived, Primo, Charles, and Arthur survive and return home to Italy. Primo writes in the book that he has kept in touch with Charles and plans to visit his old friend one day.
In Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account, to say that Auschwitz is an interesting read would be a gross understatement. Auschwitz is a historical document, a memoir but, most importantly an insider’s tale of the horrors that the captives of one of the most dreadful concentration camps in the history of mankind. Auschwitz, is about a Jewish doctors, Dr. Nyiszli, experience as an assistant for a Nazi, Dr. Mengele. Dr. Nyiszli arrived at Auschwitz concentration camp with his family unsure if he would survive the horrific camp. This memoir chronicles the Auschwitz experience, and the German retreat, ending a year later in Melk, Austria when the Germans surrendered their position there and Nyiszli obtained his freedom. The author describes in almost clinical detail and with alternating detachment and despair what transpired in the
The Silber Medal winning biography, “Surviving Hitler," written by Andrea Warren paints picture of life for teenagers during the Holocaust, mainly by telling the story of Jack Mandelbaum. Avoiding the use of historical analysis, Warren, along with Mandelbaum’s experiences, explains how Jack, along with a few other Jewish and non-Jewish people survived.
The author of the book Night , Elie Wiesel, explains his life, as well as his fellow Jews, as a young Jewish boy in concentration camps. The Jews who were sent to concentration camps were put under extremely harsh conditions and were treated like nothing but animals while under the control of the Germans. Wiesel illustrates a picture of these horrific events in his book NIght. He also describes the gruesome conditions the Jews were forced through while under the power of the Germans.
The main character of the novel is a thirteen-year-old boy named Eliezer. He and his family were taken from their home and placed in a concentration camp. He was separated from his mother and sisters during the selection once they arrived in the camp. His father was the only family he had left with him to face the inhumane environment of the camp. Many of the prisoners lost the will to live due to the conditions.
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One was considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself. Elie Wiesel was considered to be one of those men, for he had his father working side by side with him. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, a young boy and his father were condemned to a concentration camp located in Poland. In the concentration camps, having family members along can be a great blessing, but also a burden. Elie Wiesel shows that the relationship with his father was the strength that kept the young boy alive, but was also the major weakness.
Elie Wiesel: A Survivor of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel wrote in a mystical and existentialistic manner to depict his life as a victim of the holocaust in his many novels. Such selections as ‘Night’ and ‘The Trial of God’ reveal the horrors of the concentration camps and Wiesel's true thoughts of the years of hell that he encountered. This hell that Wiesel wrote about was released later in his life due to his shock, sadness, and disbelief. Elie Wiesel spoke in third person when writing his story.
Primo Levi, in his novel Survival in Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted upon the prisoners of the concentration camp by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes “the denial of humanness” constantly forced upon the prisoners through similes, metaphors, and imagery of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization (“Dehumanization”). He makes his readers aware of the cruel reality in the concentration camp in order to help them examine the psychological effects dehumanization has not only on those dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. He establishes an earnest and reflective tone with his audience yearning to grasp the reality of genocide.
Primo Levi’s narrative of the Holocaust explains the true struggle and chance for survival for the Jews in camps, specifically Auschwitz. Separately, Levi describes the true chance people had for survival in that they could have been selected to or in some cases boarded alone either the train car going to work or the train car going straight to the gas chambers. This is similar to the bombing of Hiroshima where some people could have been in the city, such as Saeki visiting her mother in which she could have died, or Kuribayashi being lucky enough in the distance away from the city. As Levi worked in the concentration camp of Auschwitz, he describes the struggle and dehumanization Jews had to go through to survive including tattooed numbers on their arms which labelled them, prisoners stealing soup or shoes to keep going. The major difference between the Hiroshima bombing and the Holocaust was the torture before an end versus an end before a torture. The Holocaust was either a two-minute torture in a gas
According to Rudolf Reder, one of only two Jews to survive the camp at Belzec, Poland, he describes the circumstance during his time at the prison camp, “The brute Schmidt was our guard; he beat and kicked us if he thought we were not working fast enough. He ordered his victim to lie down and gave them 25 lashes with a whip, ordering them to count out loud. If the victim made a mistake, he was given 50 lashes….Thirty or 40 of us were shot every day….” This quotation shows the SS guards treat the Jews inhumanly. As these Jews acclimate to the situation, their primitive survival instincts become stronger over time. They put their lives as their first priority and will do anything to survive. However, in the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer Shlomo the protagonist adversely demonstrates more commitment to family than to himself in the concentration camps. Before World War II, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party gain popularity by promising to make Germany a rich and powerful nation again after their defeat in World War I. The Nazis publicly blame the Jews for Germany’s loss of World War I and the Great Depression, resulting in promoting the anti-Semitism. Although he admits to the power of the instinct for self-preservation, because of his commitment to his father throughout the prison camp experience, and because of his reactions to others sons who do abandon or turn on their fathers, Wiesel apparently favors commitment to family over commitment to self-preservation. Eliezer never attempts to show commitment to family until the deportation to Birkenau.
Buergenthal, Thomas. A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy. New York: Little, Brown, 2009.
The holocaust was a tragical point in history. About six million Jews were slaughtered for no reason at all. Many innocent women, men, and children were killed by the dozens everyday. They were taken from their homes and sent to concentration camps and ghettos. In the concentration camps they were either put to work or killed. Survival was not in everybody’s hands. They had to rise above and do everything they can to survive. There were many who survived, who still stand today telling their stories. Elie Wiesel’s book Night, was a first hand account of the holocaust. In his book he talks about he experience during the holocaust. There were many methods of survival for the victims during the holocaust. Wiesel and other survivors who were interviewed
For the United States of America, World War II started on Dec. 7th, 1941. But for Jews and many other people in Europe it started in 1933. The first concentration camp, Dachau, was established in March of 1933. By the end of 1943, most camps were dismantled. Auschwitz continued operating until early 1944, it was liberated on Jan. 27th by the Soviets. Bergen-Belsen was liberated by Britain in April of 1945. It is important to learn about concentration camps so that others never forget what happened in the 1930s and 40s.
For most people, survival is just a matter of putting food on the table, making sure that the house payment is in on time, and remembering to put on that big winter coat. Prisoners in the holocaust did not have to worry about such things. Their food, cloths, and shelter were all provided for them. Unfortunately, there was never enough food, never sufficient shelter, and the cloths were never good enough. The methods of survival portrayed in the novels Maus by Art Spieglmen and Night by Elie Wiesel are distinctly different, but undeniably similar.
Students of the 8th grade have to learn about world events in their curriculum. One of the biggest things they could learn at this time is the Holocaust and what’s a better way to teach these students about such a significant event than to show them a documentary presented by the caring and empathetic Oprah Winfrey. Although this can be based off of perspective, students would best learn from the documentary because they can understand the significance of this event through the emotions of the people who had to suffer through the Holocaust. Not only that, but some students have difficulty reading and watching a documentary takes less time compared to the time needed to complete “Night” by Elie Wiesel.
Things are so bad right now. I don't care about living because sooner or later the Nazi’s are gonna bust through that door and execute all of us. I'm wrote this paper to tell people so they know my story and the hell I been through.