Survival In Auschwitz Essay

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Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz is a vivid and eloquent memoir of a Holocaust survivor from the largest concentration camp under German control in World War II. The original title in Italian is Se questo e un uomo, which translate to If This is A Man, alluding to the theme of humanity. The overall tone is calm and observational; rather than to pursue the reader, it is “to furnish documentation for a quiet study if certain aspects of the human mind” (Levi 10). The memoir is a testimony of Levi and the other prisoners’ survival at the Nazis’ systematic destruction attempts at the prisoners’ humanity. It was a personal struggle for prisoners, for individual survival, and struggle to maintain their humanity. Within the first pages of Survival in Auschwitz, Levi describes his removal from society to the camps, where human law and natural law have been destroyed and humanity is a privilege. Moreover, the mere act of gathering all Jewish citizens is a violation of the tenth article in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, stating, “no one shall be Subsequently, Levi portrays the stories of four individuals to highlight the possibility of survival in the camp. They are Schepschel, Alfred L. Elias, and Henri. Of the four, Schepschel has survived the longest, four year in the Lager and seen thousands of deaths. He not very well respected but he has survived by stealing brooms to sell back to the Brockaltester and taking advantages when presented, for example when he ratted on his accomplice to gain favor for his candidacy as “vat washer” (Levi 93). Alfred L. is an engineer who managed to get an extra half-ladleful of soup everyday by cleaning the pots of the Polish workers. His clean appearance and calculated display of obedience earned his the “technical head of the Kommando” when the Chemical Kommando was formed (Levi

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