Survival in Auschwitz
To Survive in Auschwitz requires luck as well as the strength of one’s personal ability, and physical capability as Primo Levi describes in his book Survival in Auschwitz. Primo Levi an Italian Jew, was 24 when he was sent to Auschwitz in 1944. He managed to survive the horrific memories throughout the Holocaust, one of the most devastating events in history throughout world war II. The Holocaust represent a time when Hitler and his Nazis army killed 6 million Jews men women and children, and an additional 6 million others, in death by starvation, gassing, or brutality.
Levi's use the phrase “the demolition of man” as he describes his initial entry into the camp system, men like himself were stripped of all of their personal identity, millions of men and women were forced to become numbers and to fall in line with a system that demanded absolute obedience. Many struggle for their very existence against fellow prisoners, a large portion of them died as a result of the brutality they incurred.
In the “Canto of Ulysses” Levi again talks about different experience and relationship with other inmates. He refers to Jean the Alsatian Pikolo as higher ranked prisoners and Kapo assistant who was in charged of prisoners. Although Pikolo is a prisoner himself, he was the Kapo assistant, however I believe as part of Levi’s luck, he was able to survive because he was the one teaching him Italian.
As I was reading this, I kept thinking about how shocking and powerful the memoir of Primo Levi's experience in Auschwitz has made me. I never really thought of concentration camps and the holocaust and I can't say reading this it helped me understand, but I feel like such events can never be understood, it certainly scared my memory.
Levi's use the phrase “the demolition of man” as he describes his initial entry into the camp system, men like himself were stripped of all of their personal identity, millions of men and women were forced to become numbers and to fall in line with a system that demanded absolute obedience. Many struggle for their very existence against fellow prisoners, a large portion of them died as a result of the brutality they incurred.
In the “Canto of Ulysses” Levi again talks about different experience and relationship with other inmates. He refers to Jean the Alsatian Pikolo as higher ranked prisoners and Kapo assistant who was in charged of prisoners. Although Pikolo is a prisoner himself, he was the Kapo assistant, however I believe as part of Levi’s luck, he was able to survive because he was the one teaching him Italian.
As I was reading this, I kept thinking about how shocking and powerful the memoir of Primo Levi's experience in Auschwitz has made me. I never really thought of concentration camps and the holocaust and I can't say reading this it helped me understand, but I feel like such events can never be understood, it certainly scared my memory.