Survival In Auschwitz By Primo Levi

Submitted By mandylloyd21
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In the book that I chose to read, Survival in Auschwitz, The author Primo Levi gives a lot of detail that allows you to paint a picture in your head of exactly what he is describing. He walks you through all of the experiences that were forced upon him just because he was a Jew living in Italy. In 1943 he was arrested and taken to a prison camp in Italy. A few months later he was deported by cattle trucks, along with many others, into the concentration camp that would later go down in history as one of the most infamous concentration camps that were organized during World War Two. Of the 650 prisoners that were transferred with him, only 20 left Auschwitz alive. Immediately after arrival, almost all of the women, children, and elderly were sentenced to be murdered in various gruesome ways, due to the fact that they were not strong enough to be put to work. Only 96 of the 650 were determined healthy and were put to work. The maximum life span for a healthy new arrival was only 3 months.
He then goes into detail about his first few hours at Auschwitz. He is taken up the road to a labor camp called Buna. He and a few other men were held in a cold empty room, had their heads shaved and then were left naked and with no shoes for hours without knowing where they were or what was going to happen to them. They could only wonder what had happened to their families, wives, children, and infants. A man entered the room after what seemed like years, and informed them that they were at a labor camp of about 10,000 prisoners. He then told the men that they were either to work, or perish. They were handed ratted rags and ordered to get dressed and get to work. Later, he received his tattoo of his prison number: 174517. He learned that he arrived on the 174,000 shipment and was the 517th man processed that day.
Conditions in the camp were far worse than anyone could ever imagine being forced to live in. Food was rare, and very little. The surroundings were filthy and disgusting. The camp provided no comfort, and they were forced to work themselves to the bone in such harsh conditions. People that became sick, injured, weak, or exhausted, were murdered without second thought or pang of guilt. During these epic descriptions, you can feel Primo’s emotion that comes back when he talks about these years of his life. He describes that there are absolutely no words in any language that can portray the camp and its conditions, and how it was a destroyer of man, life, and the will to live.
He is put into a bunk that’s conditions are so tight, that each bed has two people assigned to it. He tells how the baths and showers that they are given, are so dirty and foul that he doesn’t even see a point in doing it anymore. But he continues to do so to simply maintain
His human dignity. This idea was created by him
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