Best historical autobiography I have ever read
For historians who represent the past, and for authors such as Mr. Levi, the greatest fear about history is society forgetting integral parts of its existence. I won't forget it. His story is significant so please read this book.
First, my words bow to the author with the deepest respect. "Survival in Auschwitz," an autobiography, discusses the life of the author, a young prisoner in a Nazi death camp. Mr. Levi transports the reader into an incredible time, and places the reader- into his head- his thoughts and feelings and into the action of a death camp as one can feel, see, and smell every detail of what is occurring. His illustrations are vivid, scary, saddening, and most of all extremely detailed. He draws the sense of "stagnant time", the absurdity of unnecessary work for the sake of evilness, and how common morality wouldn't survive this camp. `Survival logic'- a practical and methodical thinking means to survival is one lesson taken away from reading this book. One chapter, for example, discusses a person named Kraus, a hard worker, who on the `outside' would be encouraged and praised by his ethic. But on the `inside', there is a dark understanding through Levi's logic, that `one can die from exhaustion but not from being beat.' It struck me as to how survival rested upon the ability to see the problem clearly and adjust oneself based on- not what was socially `right,' but what was needed for survival.
Additionally, there is an interview of Mr. Levi by an author named Mr. Roth. At first, I have to say, I wasn't going to read it, and my exact thought was: "Why does some fictional writer feel the need to ride the coattails of this author? It's like taking a Monet painting and framing it with mascara smear. Let the masterpiece stand alone." I'm not trying to be mean when I state this, but I am trying to illustrate my frustration with a mixing of fiction and nonfiction. But I read it anyway because my hunger for what Mr. Levi stated overpowered any `fictional intolerance'. To be fair, while I found Mr. Roth a bright observer and most likely a good note taker, I did not like the interview questions. They are not questions I would have posed. Almost every interview question begins with the promotion of another book Primo Levi wrote, (which I liked to promote further reading,) but at the same time, I found the questions too systematic instead of visceral. It wasn't "how did you feel when.." His questions stood very `bookish' to me, reverting back to other literature, like comparing Robinson Crusoe to Mr. Levi, which bothered me.
Masterpieces are rare. This book stands above all literature on my shelf. If ever there was an autobiography to get your hands on, this one is definitely IT!
What humans become in a time of basic survival, unfortunately it was by design
When humans are placed in environments similar to those of the concentration camps created by Germany in World War II, the currency becomes calories, clothing and shelter in that order. Survival is based on getting enough food, oftentimes by having others die or be denied. Every crumb becomes important; over time saving and consuming them is literally the difference between life and death.
Primo Levi was in his mid twenties, a chemist and an Italian Jew when the war broke out. At first, Italian Jews were relatively safe, that changed as the war dragged on and Germany and the Nazi philosophy grew to dominate the European continent. Captured and deported in 1943, Levi was transported to Auschwitz, where he struggled to survive until the German guards fled and the Russians arrived. This is his story and like all others, his survival was based almost totally on luck and skill. Those skills were due to his ability to quickly shift from a normal, rational world to one of harsh and brutal reality. His luck held as at any time, a whim of a guard could have sent him on the journey that ended with his exiting up a chimney.
Levi describes his life in hell in great detail, yet with a surprising detachment, almost as if he was engaged in an open and candid conversation about something more normal. It is a stark reminder to everyone that it was a time of great brutality and demonstrates how far away from history and reality the Holocaust deniers really are.
Auschwitz and its emotional consequences
In the book Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi paints a detailed picture about living as a Jew in fascist Northern Italy and then being transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. By 1943, the Nazis had moved south and set up holding camps around Italy to detain political prisoners and those of the Jewish nationality until they could be transported to established concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau. This book depicts what happened to Levi after his arrest in 1943. Along with 650 others, he was loaded into a freight train for a four-day journey without food or water and without the liberty to leave the train at anytime. Upon their arrival at the camp of Auschwitz, Poland, the first of a precession of selections took place. The German SS Soldiers separated those they deemed capable of work from those they deemed incapable, such as women, children and elderly. Only 135 of the 650 from Levi's train were admitted into Auschwitz, the other 515 went immediately to the gas chambers. Levi recalled with remarkable accuracy the humiliation and confusion felt as he was forced to assimilate into his new surroundings. The food rations were too insufficient to stave off the hunger. Thousands of others around him were suffering and unavoidably dying as a result of this insufficient food supply. Although he was new to the camp, his experiences with others and his own observations told him that the Germans militant nature was at its worst. In order to outlive the war and survive, he found ways to maintain the illusion of usefulness with the least possible exertion. Any protest or disobedience from prisoners ended swiftly with beatings and death.
Levi described how many of the prisoners, after long hours of manual labor, would gather in a corner of the camp for a market. They would trade rations and stolen goods. Such goods as a spoon or buttons were as valuable as gold. The market followed all the classical economic laws. This seemed to show the ability of people to live and think and work in the most adverse of conditions. Inside the barbed wire, the prisoners had created their own social and economical world in order to endure. Primo Levi seems to write as a means in which he could express the physical trauma that he experienced as a survivor of Auschwitz and its emotional consequences. He recalls for the reader the challenges that he faced on a daily and hourly basis to meet the basic needs necessary to remain alive. Levi depicts his time as a prisoner with a straightforward and narrative approach and with an almost unemotional tone that often disguises the horror of what he is describing.
Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.
Freelance Writer
Author of For the Fatherland
survivor in auschwitz
this is about the most vivid description of the camps. the only problem i had was the very poor editorial work with frequent misspellings and/or wrong words or spaces in words where they do not belong. this became distracting at times despite the intensity of the story.
Bood Review
Received book on time and it was in perfect condition. Excellent book! A must read.
(85 reviews)
