Essay on "Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi"

Essay 5 pages (1683 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

S. guards. Levi was fortunate in obtaining an interview with the I.G. Farben chemist Dr. Pannwitz, who tested his knowledge of chemistry and decided he would be useful. Even so, he was struck by the cold, blue eyes of the Herr Doctor, who did not even look at him as a man at all but more like a fish in aquarium (Levi 116). Working in the laboratory saved him from harsh, physical labor in the outdoors during winter, which was fatal to so many other prisoners. He had access to extra food rations, which made him a Prominent man and gave him useful acquaintances and connections with other prisoners, as long as he shared the food and whatever else he could steal. In December 1944, for example, not long before the Russians liberated the camp, he obtained "six or eight pints of soup from the Italian civilian workers" which he shared with other prisoners (Levi 145).

Levi took not any particular pride in having done what was necessary to survive Auschwitz, and only described in a very grim and matter-of-fact way exactly how survival was possible in that genocidal environment. Almost all of the Jewish prisoners sent there did not survive, and were either gassed at once, died in a few months of hunger, disease, overwork or became Musselmen. He noted that almost all of the survivor's accounts ever written came from those who had somehow obtained relatively privileged positions in the camp where they could obtain extra food and easier working conditions. Levi had not done anything dishonorable to survive, like the kapos, block leaders and work gang bosses, nor did he ever inflict injury on his own people. When possible, he had shared food and other necessities with his fellow prisoners and some of them also assisted him when they could. Good luck also spared him from the final, chaotic evacuation of the camp in January 1945, even though he did not realize that at the time. Even so, Levi may well have experienced some type of 'survivor's guilt', to use a highly cliched term, which might have been a factor in his suicide.

WORKS CITED

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