Category: Auschwitz

Introduction

Primo Levis book provides every reader with an opportunity to analyze his or her beliefs and assume how he or she would behave when placed in similar conditions. Besides, the text questions the notion of freedom. The purpose of this paper is to dwell upon the dynamics of humanization and dehumanization of people observed in the book by Levi and discuss the overall impressions of the story.

Humanization and Dehumanization

In general, the book raises concerns about the liberal understanding of freedom. The experience obtained in the lager refutes the traditional understanding of such definitions as good and evil, justice and injustice (Harrowitz 48). In particular, freedom should not be achieved as a result of resistance since this is an inalienable right of any person regardless of his or her background.

Such an understanding of freedom does not evolve immediately. Initially, the author allows reflecting upon the processes of humanization and dehumanization. Levi writes that the camp is a well-established mechanism, which has been created to turn some groups of people into animals. For this reason, the prisoners should not become animals and should resist the force to remain humans. According to the book, a person can survive even in a place like a lager (Harrowitz 51). However, to live, a person needs to save his or her human image.

The dynamics of dehumanization is different from that of the opposite process. It can be assumed that dehumanization is related to the perpetrators in the first place rather than to the victims who have to experience various sufferings. The camp guards were losing their human image in a gradual manner simultaneously with their intensifying perceptions of what could be considered subhuman and why. Therefore, the more the perpetrators were viewing Jews as animals and the worse they were treating them, the more dehumanized these people became (Harrowitz 49). It can be stated that committed violence is not a form of dehumanization. The actual dehumanization lies in the meaning attributed to harassing others since it reflects the internal intention to have more power over other people.

The dynamics of humanization is pulsating, and it either grows faster or slows down due to the character of Levis narration. It is possible to observe how humanity shines through the darkness of cruelty. For instance, the writer stressed how happy and lucky he was to preserve Albertos companionship (Levi 60). Also, he makes multiple allusions to his friendship with Lorenzo, which enables concluding that human companionship has the potential to brighten up life even in the most terrible conditions.

The reader can judge the efforts made by the afflicted humanity to resist systematic annihilation when reading descriptions of situations when the victims help each other out of their goodness. For example, Lorenzo wrote and sent postcards on Levis behalf. He also brought a reply to Primo. He gave food to his friend and supported him, and for all this, he neither asked nor accepted any reward, because he was good and simple and did not think that one did well for a reward (Levi 139). Such actions are remarkable examples of humanization, which takes place against the background of perpetrators degradation. Importantly, such choices gave meaning to the lives of prisoners and pushed them to continue saving humanity.

Original Title

The meaning of Levis original title can be interpreted differently based on an individuals views, values, and perceptions. Nevertheless, it is rather clear that this title encompasses all the rhetoric questions and queries raised by the story and summarizes them in one question. Depending on the standpoint, the title can be related to either the victims or the perpetrators. The Jewish people who had to face such sufferings were rather likely to lose the feeling of their self-identity as well as their human features; therefore, it would be reasonable to question whether people could preserve something human in themselves after facing such tortures and humiliations. Nonetheless, after finishing the book, it is possible to answer this question positively. Thus, the original title of the story addresses the perpetrators since it is impossible to answer whether a living being can be considered a human after inflicting so much pain on someone.

Tone of Narration

The tone of the narrative is quite unbiased and detached even though the author tells about the events that he has experienced himself (Thomson 321). Levi reveals the details and gives multiple descriptions of the setting to recreate the events and the environment in the readers mind. Nevertheless, the author does not assess to enhance the impression of the events. It has been done to ensure that everyone who reads the book draws independent conclusions, and the author does not interfere with his suggestions of how a person should feel in such an environment.

Holocaust Stories

Levis book has much in common with The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is similar to Levis book in that it reflects how spirituality and humanity can feed the soul during suffering. Even though this story has more romanticism to it, its core is related to Levis story since it also stresses the importance of being human in any setting (Zusak 561). Nonetheless, Primos story is very different from everything that I have read about the Holocaust since it analyzes every little detail, and every step-by-step change in a person that leads to the loss of identity or vice versa  allows preserving humanity to survive.

Reaction to the Story

I am glad that have I read this book because it made me notice every little aspect that makes a person a human being. I would not want to reread it because I believe that it contains many details that remained unnoticed during the first reading, which will intensify my shock if I turn to this story again. The manner of narration of the author is remarkable since it immerses the reader into the required atmosphere without imposing the authors opinion. Also, when reading the book, it is possible to detect the moments when the author experienced the greatest shock and strongest impressions. For example, Levi describes in detail the arrival of Italian transport, the first hours in the camp, and the process of disinfection (Levi 43). Also, he describes the meeting with Steinlauf, which will be memorized due to his speech that it is necessary to remain a civilized person despite all sufferings (Levi 39). Between these descriptions, there are memories of the daily routine, habituation, and much more, but it is not imprinted in the memory so much because the author is understood better through those points that were mentioned above.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that the book by Primo Levi challenges readers to test themselves and their beliefs when placed in the environment of the lager. It enables us to evaluate the efforts needed to remain human in the inhumane setting. However, more importantly, the story pushes the audience to assess the importance of freedom and equality, which should be the inalienable rights of any person.

Works Cited

Harrowitz, Nancy. Primo Levi and the Identity of a Survivor. University of Toronto Press, 2016.

Levi, Primo. If this Is a Man. Translated by Stuart Woolf, The Orion Press, 1959.

Thomson, Ian. Primo Levi: A Life. Henry Holt and Company, 2014.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. 10th ed., Random House, 2016.

Introduction

“Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State” is one of the most voracious and informative documentaries on the Holocaust. It presents the inner establishment of the Nazi realization of Hitler’s “final solution.” It was the accomplishment of the systematic genocide of Jews. This salient picture reveals the thoroughly researched chronicle of the “death factory”, its foundation and development, and nowadays historical evidence of survivors and perpetrators. The film examines the characteristics of the infamous Holocaust engineers like Himmler, Höss, and Mengele known as “death doctors”. Using historical photographs, computer models of the camps, interviews with victims and offenders the filmmakers create the truthful image of Auschwitz. This essay is intended to describe the inner workings of the concentration camps, the system of implementation of the annihilation of millions of European Jews, horrible experiments under prisoners, and mass murders. Everyone should know about this crime as the historical lesson of what should never be repeated.

The Nazi ideology

The film reveals the military ideology of Nazi Germany under the leadership of Hitler. The Nazi ideology was based on Nazism and racism. Nazis insist on the superiority of the so-called Aryan race. The other nations were qualified as “mongrel races”. Hitler claimed that “great nations” were developed from homogeneous populations of “great races”. These nations naturally grew from “races” with “natural good health, and aggressive, intelligent, courageous traits” (BBC – History). The “weakest nations” were called “mongrel races”, because they had weak cultures, were divided between themselves, and spread all over the world. The Nazis reckoned among them mainly Jews, but also Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and anti-socials. They proclaimed that all the “mongrel races” should be wiped off the face of the earth. One of the architects of the Nazi death machine was Himmler. He controlled the work of the concentration camp system.

Auschwitz description

Auschwitz was the complex of Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The camp was based in the Polish town of Oswiecim, renamed by Nazi Germany Auschwitz. It consisted of three large camps and 45 sub-camps. The first camp was called Stammlager. The German term “Stalag”, the short form of Stammlager, was used for prisoner-of-war camps. The second camp was called Birkenau by the name of Polish village Brzezinka in its German translation. The third camp was called Buna-Monowitz. It was built in Germany, as in 1942 some of the Polish territories were annexed to Germany. The camp’s long-term goal was the extirpation of “mongrel races” in Europe. It is a fact that death was the inevitable outcome for most people taken in Auschwitz.

Genocide methods

The film shows us the horrible pictures of genocide methods, which were practiced by fascists on the occupied territories. A lot of people died because of overwork, diseases, and starvation in ghettos and labor camps. The everyday food portion for prisoners was too small to survive. The Nazis did not distribute any more food, because the final goal was death. The situation was worsened by diseases. Death was gradual and unavoidable. Every day a lot of prisoners were taken into the trains and removed out of the ghetto. SS commandos shot Jews and dumped them into huge pits. First Jews were said that they would be taken into a safe place. They were to take all the necessary and valuable things. At the place, they left their things and were sent to death by shooting or in gas chambers and gas vans. Then those trains were called condemned men carriage.

Extermination system

“Factories of Death” shows the complex extermination system of Nazis. The great number of prisoners was killed in gas van and gas chambers. The gas van was a wagon with an airtight compartment. People in it were suffocated with exhaust gas or poisoned with carbon monoxide. For a larger number of people, there were stationary gas chambers. They were used as “euthanasia programs” for the extermination of physically challenged and mentally incapable people and political prisoners, “lives not worthy to live” (Proctor, 191). Some of them were designed to kill more than two thousand victims at once. In 1942, three stationary gas chambers were built. When the train with prisoners arrived, few of them were chosen to work in the so-called Sonderkommando. The rest were stripped, and their hair was cut. Then they were pushed into the gas chambers to be killed. When they all were dead, Sonderkommando would carry out the bodies of the victims and bury them in a mass grave. Later the Nazis built large crematoria ovens, where they got rid of the bodies of the victim after different biological experiments. Human experimentation was developed in concentration camps during the Nazi regime. One of the leaders of the medical crimes was Mengele, known as “doctor death”. He arranged genetic experiments on twin children. The purpose was to find the method of human body manipulation. The victims of the experiments naturally were doomed to death.

Conclusion

Laurence Rees, writer, and producer of “Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State”, in his interview said, “What greater purpose can history have than to try and lead people toward a possible understanding of how this crime could ever have happened? Without an understanding of how it happened, you can’t begin to look around the world and think why it might happen again” (KCET). The film is aimed to show the terror of the Nazi genocide, for that it never appeared in human history.

Bibliography

Noakes, Jeremy. “Hitler and ‘Lebensraum’ in the East.” BBC – History, 2004. Web.

Proctor, Robert N. Racial Hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis, Harvard, 1988.

Rees, Laurence. Interview. Community Television of Southern California (KCET), 2005. Web.

Introduction

The Nazi rule in Germany is considered to be the most oppressive and discriminative rule in modern times. During this rule, which lasted until the end of the Second World War, the Nazi engaged in widespread discrimination against European Jews.

This deep anti-Semitism resulted in a master plan created by the Nazi to exterminate all the Jews of Europe. To carry out this task, the Nazi regime built many concentration camps and extermination camps where the Jews could be killed in large numbers.

The most infamous Nazi death camp was Auschwitz concentration camp, where at least one million Jewish prisoners were killed. Before being killed, the prisoners were taken through a process of dehumanization by the Nazi guards.

The book “Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi provides an in-depth narration on the dehumanization process carried out by the Nazi against the Jewish prisoners. While Levi assets that all the action carried out against the prisoners were meant to dehumanize them, some actions were more striking to me than others.

Dehumanization Process

Language Used

The Nazis manipulated language in order to dehumanize the Jews in a number of ways. Language was used to reduce the status of Jews creating a sense of dehumanization. As Levi and the other Jews are being counted for transportation, the Corporal states that there are “six hundred and fifty pieces” referring to the number of Jews available for transportation (9).

The Jews were referred to as pieces which reduced them to mere commodities that could be treated in any way and even killed without regard. Levi describes that they were transported into the camp “like cheap merchandise, for a journey towards nothingness” (10). This demonstrates how the Nazi treated the inmates like worthless objects.

Degrading Clothing

The first major action in the dehumanization process was the order for the inmates to undress and give away their clothes that were then replaced by ill-fitting rags and broken down boots with wooden soles.

By being clothed in filthy rags and mismatched shoes, the inmates were set apart from humanity. Levi notes that by being made to wear the unrecognizable rags, the previously dignified individuals were transformed into a mass of miserable and sordid puppets (15).

The concentration camp authorities did not make any differentiation among the prisoners based on their level of intelligence or talent. All the prisoners were dressed in the same ragged outfits and treated brutally regardless of their intelligence.

Levi reveals that “Thousands of individuals, differing in age, condition, origin, language, culture and customs, are enclosed within barbed wire: there they live a regular, controlled life which is identical for all and inadequate to all needs” (51).

Levi explains that while the skilled workers such as electricians, smiths, welders, and mechanics were given specialized jobs that were less physically demanding, they did not receive any different treatment from the ordinary workers (20). This communicated to the inmates that they were all equally of no worth and this further dehumanized them.

Tattooing of Inmates

The first striking factor is the tattooing of a number on the left arm of the inmate and the demand that the prisoner uses this number as his name. The German guards did not refer to an inmate by his official name but instead used his number to identify him. The prisoner had to learn how to pronounce his number in German and use this as his new name.

Levi’s new name is his number, 174517 and he has to use it during his term at the prison camp. Levi explains about an inmate who has already forgotten his real name and is only known by the last three digits of the tattoo he received when he was admitted to the camp, number Zero Eighteen (Null Achtzehn). Levi states that Null Achtzehn “gives the impression of being empty inside, nothing more than involucres” (25).

A person’s name gives him a sense of identity and preserves his humanity. By taking away the inmates’ names, the Nazi attempted to encourage the loss of sense of self in the prisoners. These attempts at times succeeded and the person was reduced to an empty object.

This was the case with Null Achtzehn who humanness appears to have been lost with his name. This character is indifferent to everything around him and appears to have lost all will to struggle for survival. Levi compares Null Achtzehn to the sledge-dogs that have no purpose of living and slave until their last breath and die (25).

Poor Living Conditions

The inmates were housed under sub-human living conditions where even the minimum level of hygiene was impossible to maintain. The living quarters of the inmates are small huts that are overcrowded. The prisoners are required to sleep on uncomfortable bunks made of planks of food covered by straw and due to overcrowding, at two individuals occupy almost all the bunks (Levi 29).

The inmates were not able to sleep in stretched out conditions due to overcrowding in the living quarters. The inmates suffered from constant physical pains as they tried to sleep on the hard bunks in twisted immobile positions. Adding to the discomfort of living in the crowded space, the inmates are surrounded by filth and depravity. Prisoners were forced to sleep next to their neighbours who had feet soaked in urine and human waste.

This occurred when a person was made to go empty the bucket of human waste into the latrine late at night. During the transportation process, the content of the overflowing bucket of waste would spill to the person’s feet but he would not be permitted to wash off the waste when he returned to sleep.

These sub-human living conditions essentially reduce the men to living in animal like conditions. It is hard to maintain the sense of human dignity and self-respect when you are living in detestable conditions surrounded by waste and misery.

Levi considers himself lucky when he finds an empty bunk during his first day. He stretches himself out happily and is delighted at having a hard block of wood to sleep on (Levi 29). This illustrates how the dehumanization process reduced the aspirations of the inmates since a free person would not have delighted in sleeping on a hard plank of wood.

Why did the Nazis use dehumanization?

The Nazis made use of dehumanization for a number of practical reasons. Through the dehumanization process, the Nazi were able to alienate the Jewish people from the rest of the human community.

From the moment where they were clothed in rags and mismatched shoes, the inmates appeared different from the other people. Levi declares that this is the “”the demolition of a man” (15). Any ill treatment towards them was therefore justified since they were not viewed as a part of the human community.

Dehumanization was also needed to enable the Nazi guards to carry out their brutal treatment of the Jews without being overcome by guilt. By systematically dehumanizing the inmates, the guards were able to rationalize the severe acts carried out against prisoners since the prisoners were viewed as less than human.

Through dehumanizing activities such as pointless and vicious brutality against inmates, the guards were able to convince themselves that the prisoners deserved the treatment they got. Levi reveals that the guards “have no scruples about beating us up without a reason” (57). By dehumanizing the inmates, the Nazi were able to reduce Jews to the level of animals. They could then control and kill them without any remorse.

Dehumanization reduced the level of resistance from the inmates. Due to the dehumanization process, the inmates were made to forget about the notion of basic human rights. The process reduced the aspirations of the prisoners and for most of them, their only desire was to survive. Levi declares, “We are slaves, deprived of every right” (23). They did not expect any justice and were satisfied with being alive.

The dehumanization process removed all aspects of self-respect and human dignity in the prisoners with survival being the primary goal for most. There is little unity among the inmates as can be seen from the case of Moischl who condemns his accomplice to a flogging by the guards (54). Dehumanization therefore makes it each for the Nazis to handle the inmates.

Conclusion

This paper set out to highlight some of the outstanding dehumanization activities carried out by the Nazi against the inmates at Auschwitz. The paper has noted that while there were many dehumanizing actions, some of the most striking ones were: clothing the inmates in rags, tattooing the prisoners, and providing dilapidated living conditions for the inmates.

The paper has highlighted some of the horrible experiences that the inmates experienced in the process of dehumanization. The paper has shown that the actions of the Nazi were very effective in reducing the inmates to sub-human level. After some time, some of the inmates became completely dehumanized and lost their sense of humanness.

Works Cited

Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Print.

The history of our world contains multiple horrifying stories and events. The saddest and most tragic ones of them are the years of genocide during the Second World War and the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. The nations that turned out to be under attack for basically no reason had to go through an enormous amount of sufferings and pain. Tens of thousands of people were executed and tortured to death during both of these events. =

Cambodian Pol Pot and European genocide will always be remembered as ones of the most shameful pages of the human history of all times. The events of those times have been preserved in the memories of the rare survivors of both regimes. Literature has several biographical novels written by actual inmates of concentration and work camps of Germany and Cambodia. The people that happened to live through these awful events could not stay silent and decided to let the world know about the inner side of these crimes against life. =

Their dramatic and scary observations will always remain the straightforward reminders of what humans are capable of doing and what the victims can survive. This paper is focused on the comparative analysis of two of biographical novels written during the Second World War, and the Khmer Rouge called “Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi and “First They Killed My Father” by Loung Ung. The analysis is focused on the role of categories of class, race, and gender shaped each of these horrific events and the experiences of both authors.

Loung Ung begins her ordeals surrounded by her big family that counts nine people. The oldest siblings of Loung are still in their teenage. The story of the Ung family starts with the description of their wealthy and safe life in a big home with enough money and food. Ung’s father had a prestigious career working for the government. The members of his family enjoyed a happy and comfortable life up to the moment when armed people representing the Khmer Rouge took over their city. =

The leaders of the new regime intended to eliminate all of the more of less wealthy urban people, whom they called capitalists. Ung family had to escape the city and leave behind everything they had. Loung’s mother allows her kids to use money as toilet paper because she knows that these notes are of no use during the Khmer Rouge. Loung gets to experience the hatred towards her family from the side of villagers, but she cannot comprehend its reasons: “I don’t understand why they are looking at me as if I am a strange animal when in reality, we look very much the same.” (Ung, 57). =

The roles of class and ethnicity are mixed in this situation because wealthy urban people are considered to be improper citizens that need to be changed using hard physical labor: “The base people will train us to be hard workers and teach us to have pride in our country. Only then will we be worthy of calling ourselves Khmer” (Ung, 57). Education and progressive technologies were viewed as harmful and useless aspects of life. They had to be destroyed as a negative influence, creating the gap between the rich and the poor. =

The rules states that everyone had to be dressed in black eat rationed portions of food and even speak the same way to maintain absolute equality, people of an ethnicity other than Khmer were not treated with much stronger disrespect than others. The rules of equality were non-applicable towards people’s background: Pa says because we are different – Chinese-Cambodian – we will have to work harder than others (Ung, 61).

Primo Levi’s survival in a concentration camp for Jews starts with neglect, humiliation, and torture. The Germans and the Jews are like absolutely different species of people. German soldiers keep making fun of Jewish culture and religion: “The officer says you must be quiet because this is not a rabbinical school” (Levi, 315). Through the years of racial segregation, people got used to differentiating between ethnicities and nations. =

In comparison with Ung’s story, where the events were abrupt, and shockingly fast, Jews like Levi had been under gradually strengthening pressure of racism and fascism for years before they got captured. Loung was surprised to learn that people were different according to their background, while Primo had been taught about it for a long time: “our language lacks words to express this offense, demolition of man” (Levi, 358). Men in German concentration camps are kept away from women and children, and in Cambodian working camps the Ung family manages to stick together for a while.

Levi was precise, calling such events a “demolition of man,” such neglect and torture change people forever, make them develop completely new personality traits. Educated and polite Primo Levi learned how to steal but not be robbed himself; sweet Loung that at the beginning of the revolution was heartbroken about losing her favorite dress learned how to be a child soldier. These two tragic happenings made hundreds of camp inmates change and thousands –disappear forever.

Works Cited

Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. New York: Touchstone, 1995.

Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 2000.

The banality of evil is directly related to Primo Levi’s narration. When the author describes in detail the horrors experienced in concentration camps, he questions the way people can delineate between right and wrong and between good and evil. He stresses that the desire to divide all people into two categories, which are “we” and “they”, pushes them to make wrongful judgments. Nevertheless, the real-life setting is more complex, and individuals wish to make it simpler by introducing such notions as “friend” and “enemy”. Notably, the author states that he can understand this intention but cannot justify the actual process of simplification.

To convey his testimony, Levi immerses the reader in the atmosphere of uncertainty. The author has a position of a narrator who provides descriptive utterances and enables the audience to make their judgments. Following this strategy, he makes the reader responsible for interpreting the text. For instance, in the chapter called “The Drowned and the Saved”, the author only describes the setting and does not allow making any particular conclusions about his position, and the reader has to interpret the events him or herself to be able to choose between two sides. This technique allows Levi to create a testimony that would connect the past with the present.

It can be assumed that the Lager can be turned into a learning experience. However, the essential condition for gaining this experience is to stay alive in this inhumane environment. Nonetheless, a person surviving the Lager can truly comprehend what it takes to be a human being and after which events a person can no longer be considered a human. Also, this experience should help answer the question about the efforts it takes to remain human in the most difficult conditions.

The purpose of providing the classification described in the chapter “The Saved and the Drowned” is to immerse the reader in the atmosphere, which has been established in the Lager and reflect on the way they would react if they found themselves in such a setting. It pushes the reader to dwell upon how they will act if they want to prolong their life. I believe that the two descriptions do not contradict each other. It has been done intentionally to make the audience contemplate whether they would survive if they were placed in the Lager.

It is difficult to say whether Levi identifies himself with the drowned or the saved. He mentions that his own identity has been ruined because of this devastating experience; nevertheless, he has been able to learn from it, and this extremely difficult period of his life has transformed his personality. Therefore, part of Levi belongs to the drowned and part of him – to the saved.

The author describes the peculiarities of other people, which have been manifested even in the most horrible settings to explain implicitly how human dignity is preserved in any environment. For instance:

• “Henri, on the other hand, is eminently civilized and sane, and possesses a complete and organic theory on the ways to survive in Lager” (pg.113);
• “Of his conquests, he speaks with educated modesty” (pg. 115).

Doctor Pannwitz is Levi’s Aryan counterpart. Their encounter occurred when Levi came to a physical examination (pg. 122). They started talking with the doctor, and it turned out that they shared similar backgrounds; however, Pannowitz was considered Aryan, and Levi was believed to be Jewish. At the end of their encounter, the doctor wiped his hand on Levi’s shoulder “without hatred” because it was dirty (pg. 125).

Introduction

Primo Levi wrote Survival in Auschwitz as an account of his sufferings and the challenges that he and his fellow prisoners faced while being detained by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Having been arrested in December 1943 for being an anti-fascist Italian Jew, Primo was initially lodged at a prison in Italy and then sent to Auschwitz in February 1944. He managed to be alive only because, by the year 1944, the Nazis had softened on genocide and adopted a policy of forced labor for the prisoners. Levi had to stay back when his prison camp was shifted in 1945 since he was suffering from scarlet fever and after having miraculously survived for ten days in the abandoned camp, he was rescued by the Soviet army.

Life in Auschwitz

Primo Levi is one of the most insightful and forthright intellectuals who had an experience of the Holocaust and survived in narrating its details. In being prisoner number 174517, Primo was proscribed and had to face the brunt of the unreasonable and cruel actions of his captors. He considered that he was able to survive only because of several varied and inadvertent circumstances. Primo has referred to Auschwitz as a true university for him because it taught him so much about human behavior and communication techniques to effectively deal with fellow prisoners and prison guards.

He has recalled that several prisoners were sent to be killed simply because they could not understand the orders given in German. In narrating his good fortune he writes “It was my good fortune to be deported to Auschwitz only in 1944” (Primo Levi, 1996), and explains that when he reached Auschwitz “the German Government had decided, owing to the growing scarcity of labor, to lengthen the average life-span of the prisoners destined for elimination” (Primo Levi, 1996).

There was a constant effort on the part of every prisoner to learn survival tactics and Levi has recalled how he was invoked into the prison system when he arrived at Auschwitz. His relationship with Lorenzo Perrone was a big reason for his remaining alive. For six months this Italian had shared his food with Primo at the cost of his rations and had he not suffered from scarlet fever the Germans would have sent him to the gas chambers.

The Nazi policy at the time was not to kill all prisoners in gas chambers but to make them work towards their death. Primo is all praise for Resnyk, a strong prisoner who accepted him as his partner in the strenuous activity of hauling heavy load through the bitter cold and muddy terrain. Primo is very specific about Resnyk being big support in saving his life since he would carry the major part of the load that they were required to carry together.

The author has narrated some good moments whereby “today the sun rose bright and clear for the first time from the horizon of mud,” (Primo Levi, 1996) because extra ration was provided to prisoners thus reducing their ordeal of extreme hunger. Primo writes on behalf of all his prison mates and not from the point of view of a solitary prisoner’s subjective narration. Levi’s language is such that his account becomes the voice of the prisoners and all descriptions about his personal experiences are written in first-person plural form.

He has written in this regard about the successful efforts of the Nazis in turning the prisoners against each other. They were made to viciously and violently compete for meager crumbs of extra food or for gaining momentary relief from the hard labor. But such instances always resulted in some of the prisoners dying at the hands of their mates.

Conclusion

Primo writes about the things that the prisoners learned to survive the harsh circumstances. They used wire to tie their shoes; rags were used for wrapping around bruised feet and illegally collected waste paper was padded into their jackets to get relief from the cold. They did not trust each other and learned the art of safeguarding their belongings by making a bundle of them and using it as a pillow at night. Levi’s book is in essence the representative voice of all Auschwitz survivors and all the experiences narrated are collective as if experienced by all of them.

Levi has insisted that they were always on the verge of collapse in suffering from pangs of hunger, thirst, and fatigue and such suffering cannot be inferred in the outside world because the Holocaust was an attempt for the demolition of the man and that it was not possible to stoop lower than what was being done. It was as if all prisoners were speaking in one voice, “they have taken away our clothes, our shoes, even our hair; if we speak, they will not listen to us, and if they listen, they will not understand. They will even take away our name” (Primo Levi, 1996).

Works Cited

Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, 1996, Simon and Schuster.

Introduction

Primo Levi’s book provides every reader with an opportunity to analyze his or her beliefs and assume how he or she would behave when placed in similar conditions. Besides, the text questions the notion of freedom. The purpose of this paper is to dwell upon the dynamics of humanization and dehumanization of people observed in the book by Levi and discuss the overall impressions of the story.

Humanization and Dehumanization

In general, the book raises concerns about the liberal understanding of freedom. The experience obtained in the lager refutes the traditional understanding of such definitions as good and evil, justice and injustice (Harrowitz 48). In particular, freedom should not be achieved as a result of resistance since this is an inalienable right of any person regardless of his or her background.

Such an understanding of freedom does not evolve immediately. Initially, the author allows reflecting upon the processes of humanization and dehumanization. Levi writes that the camp is a well-established mechanism, which has been created to turn some groups of people into animals. For this reason, the prisoners should not become animals and should resist the force to remain humans. According to the book, a person can survive even in a place like a lager (Harrowitz 51). However, to live, a person needs to save his or her human image.

The dynamics of dehumanization is different from that of the opposite process. It can be assumed that dehumanization is related to the perpetrators in the first place rather than to the victims who have to experience various sufferings. The camp guards were losing their human image in a gradual manner simultaneously with their intensifying perceptions of what could be considered subhuman and why. Therefore, the more the perpetrators were viewing Jews as animals and the worse they were treating them, the more dehumanized these people became (Harrowitz 49). It can be stated that committed violence is not a form of dehumanization. The actual dehumanization lies in the meaning attributed to harassing others since it reflects the internal intention to have more power over other people.

The dynamics of humanization is pulsating, and it either grows faster or slows down due to the character of Levi’s narration. It is possible to observe how humanity shines through the darkness of cruelty. For instance, the writer stressed how happy and lucky he was to preserve Alberto’s companionship (Levi 60). Also, he makes multiple allusions to his friendship with Lorenzo, which enables concluding that human companionship has the potential to brighten up life even in the most terrible conditions.

The reader can judge the efforts made by the afflicted humanity to resist systematic annihilation when reading descriptions of situations when the victims help each other out of their goodness. For example, Lorenzo wrote and sent postcards on Levi’s behalf. He also brought a reply to Primo. He gave food to his friend and supported him, and “for all this, he neither asked nor accepted any reward, because he was good and simple and did not think that one did well for a reward” (Levi 139). Such actions are remarkable examples of humanization, which takes place against the background of perpetrators’ degradation. Importantly, such choices gave meaning to the lives of prisoners and pushed them to continue saving humanity.

Original Title

The meaning of Levi’s original title can be interpreted differently based on an individual’s views, values, and perceptions. Nevertheless, it is rather clear that this title encompasses all the rhetoric questions and queries raised by the story and summarizes them in one question. Depending on the standpoint, the title can be related to either the victims or the perpetrators. The Jewish people who had to face such sufferings were rather likely to lose the feeling of their self-identity as well as their human features; therefore, it would be reasonable to question whether people could preserve something human in themselves after facing such tortures and humiliations. Nonetheless, after finishing the book, it is possible to answer this question positively. Thus, the original title of the story addresses the perpetrators since it is impossible to answer whether a living being can be considered a human after inflicting so much pain on someone.

Tone of Narration

The tone of the narrative is quite unbiased and detached even though the author tells about the events that he has experienced himself (Thomson 321). Levi reveals the details and gives multiple descriptions of the setting to recreate the events and the environment in the reader’s mind. Nevertheless, the author does not assess to enhance the impression of the events. It has been done to ensure that everyone who reads the book draws independent conclusions, and the author does not interfere with his suggestions of how a person should feel in such an environment.

Holocaust Stories

Levi’s book has much in common with “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. It is similar to Levi’s book in that it reflects how spirituality and humanity can feed the soul during suffering. Even though this story has more romanticism to it, its core is related to Levi’s story since it also stresses the importance of being human in any setting (Zusak 561). Nonetheless, Primo’s story is very different from everything that I have read about the Holocaust since it analyzes every little detail, and every step-by-step change in a person that leads to the loss of identity or vice versa – allows preserving humanity to survive.

Reaction to the Story

I am glad that have I read this book because it made me notice every little aspect that makes a person a human being. I would not want to reread it because I believe that it contains many details that remained unnoticed during the first reading, which will intensify my shock if I turn to this story again. The manner of narration of the author is remarkable since it immerses the reader into the required atmosphere without imposing the author’s opinion. Also, when reading the book, it is possible to detect the moments when the author experienced the greatest shock and strongest impressions. For example, Levi describes in detail the arrival of Italian transport, the first hours in the camp, and the process of disinfection (Levi 43). Also, he describes the meeting with Steinlauf, which will be memorized due to his speech that it is necessary to remain a civilized person despite all sufferings (Levi 39). Between these descriptions, there are memories of the daily routine, habituation, and much more, but it is not imprinted in the memory so much because the author is understood better through those points that were mentioned above.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that the book by Primo Levi challenges readers to test themselves and their beliefs when placed in the environment of the lager. It enables us to evaluate the efforts needed to remain human in the inhumane setting. However, more importantly, the story pushes the audience to assess the importance of freedom and equality, which should be the inalienable rights of any person.

Works Cited

Harrowitz, Nancy. Primo Levi and the Identity of a Survivor. University of Toronto Press, 2016.

Levi, Primo. If this Is a Man. Translated by Stuart Woolf, The Orion Press, 1959.

Thomson, Ian. Primo Levi: A Life. Henry Holt and Company, 2014.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. 10th ed., Random House, 2016.

Introduction

Both “Son of Saul” film and “The Way to the Gas, Ladies, and Gentlemen” short story depict an everyday life of inmates trying to survive in a concentration camp of Auschwitz. The film focuses on one key character Saul Auslander, a Jewish prisoner and a member of a Sonderkommando whose job is to accompany inmates on their way to a gas chamber and then to remove all the signs of their presence, waiting for new ones. The short story is presented through the lenses of Tadek, a Polish gentile inmate, performing the same work as Saul in the death camp.

Survival, resistance, and heroism

Horrors and survival described in the film and the story involve daily deaths, fear, and inevitable awareness of the fact that these characters are forced to assist in killing others in order to continue their own existence. This significantly suppresses their feelings and personality making to become indifferent even to their friends. However, people find strengths to resist the regime and show heroism through seemingly negligible actions.¹ For example, Tadek gives water to one of the inmates at the risk of his own life. The prisoners are trying to implement some meaningful actions: to blow up the camp, save their lives, take photos of the massacres, and send documents to someone outside the camp so that the world can know the truth. All these actions fail one after the other while only the body of the boy remains hidden to be buried with Jewish traditions. In this inside-out world, fortune favors only the most insane plans.

Relations between inmates and Nazi oppressors

The relationships between inmates cannot be close as it is prohibited by the camp nature, yet all their communication and collaboration are directed to a plan of rebellion. The overall goal, common reason, and strong desire to live and be free – all these unite inmates. At the same time, the relationships of inmates with Nazi oppressors are characterized by constant humiliation and bullying. The selection of prisoners was, perhaps, the cruelest manifestation of Nazi concentration camps as those who did not pass it were destined to be murdered in gas chambers.² Furthermore, every day was a struggle for survival under unbearable conditions. The prisoners were kept in buildings without windows. Some prisoners were engaged in forced labor in the camp, for example, women sorted the heaps of clothes, shoes, and other items belonging to inmates that were sent to Germany to be used. Under the supervision of armed guards, they purified the roads from snow and cleaned debris on the roads and in the cities affected by the air raids. Over time, the forced labor began to be used on a large scale in factories that produced weapons and other products to meet the needs of the Nazi war machine.

How to retain dignity?

How can one avoid degradation and retain dignity under such enormous pressure? This can be feasible only in case a person tries his or her best to remain a human, preserving the very sense of kindness to others that can lead forward in spite of difficulties and serve as a saving lighthouse in the impenetrable darkness. The dreadful scenes of daily work of Saul resemble a circle of hell which Dante could not even imagine. However, the mechanical actions of Saul suddenly interfered with the meeting with a boy in which he saw his son. In fact, a viewer cannot know for sure whether this is his son or merely the result of an injured psyche. The more important issue is the desire to bury the boy according to the Jewish ritual signifying a resurrection of the human feelings in Saul. Even though Saul’s intention may look absurd at first sight, especially during the escape from the concentration camp as it puts at risk not only his life but also those of his friends, this desire gives him hope and faith for the future. In other words, the described intention clearly demonstrates that even in such extreme conditions, a man can maintain dignity, thus making the first step to the promotion of humaneness.

In its turn, the short story also reflects the way to retain human dignity. Joining the labor gang, Tadek encounters a multicolored wave of inmates and separates them to those who will work and those who will die. At this point, he understands that helplessness turns to hatred not only to Nazi oppressors but also to those Jews as a reason for his dazed state. After a while, the narrator realizes that he can struggle against the oppression by nobly helping others. Despite precipitously blurring boundaries between normality and abnormality, he is still capable of self-sacrificing that makes Tadek stay strong and self-respectful.

Conclusion

To conclude, both the short story and the film focus on violent events of Holocaust in Auschwitz. The paramount idea is also similar, and the message is clear: nothing could destroy a human in case he or she is able to retain dignity. Even in the condition of cruelty, death, fear, and pain, people need to hope for better and exert every effort to remain humane.

Bibliography

Langer, Lawrence L. Art from the Ashes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Permana, Agung, S. “Son of Saul (2015) Stream Online”. Filmed [2015]. YouTube video, 1.33. Web.

Footnotes

1. Lawrence L. Langer, Art from the Ashes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 348.
2. Agung, S. Permana, “Son of Saul (2015) Stream Online”. Filmed [2015]. Web.