Survival inThe autobiography, Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi

The autobiography, Survival in Auschwitz was written by an Italian resistance member named Primo Levi. In the novel, Levi accounts on his incarceration in the Auschwitz Holocaust concentration camp from February 1944 to January 27, 1945. Levi was born in July 1919 in Turin, Italy. Sixty seven years later, he died in the same city, Turin in Italy. He was an intelligent and intellectual man with a passion for writing and chemistry. Primo’s most famous writing piece was actually the book, Survival in Auschwitz. Originally titled, If this Is a Man, Survival in Aushwitz was first officially published in 1947, two years after his release from Auschwitz.

This novel is about the horrific events that took place towards Levi and other captive jewish members over a ten month period at Ka-Be in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Throughout the autobiography, Levi states graphic accounts on everything that happen to him. In the beginning, Levi was captured by the Fascist Militia on December 13, 1943, at the age of 24. Shortly after being captured, Levi starts to endure all the hardships of being a jewish prisoner at a nazi concentration camp. He writes about the poor living conditions, the painful, back breaking work he was forced to do, and the people he encounters. As he becomes wiser to the system, Levi realizes intelligence is the key to his freedom. Levi says he was "too civilized" and "thinks too much," (103) to work in the fields and will eventually end in selections. Because Levi was intellectual, he thought before he acted as oppose to acting before he thinks like most of the other prisoners he was with. For this reason, he got a specialty job working in a laboratory as oppose to working on the fields. It is for his brilliance and his...

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...he experience of the author has allowed him to create an impressive and historical autobiography. My favorite part of this book was when Levi was selected for laboratory detail. He was finally doing something better than the hard labor endured before. Levi was also happy that he did not have to be cold that winter. My least favorite part of the book was during chapter 14, “Kraus.” I felt horrible when the crying men had to endure the cold rain. I disliked that the only way to end the suffering was to “touch the electric wire-fence, or throw yourself under the shunting trains” as stated by Levi (131). I would highly recommend this book to others to enjoy. It gives a great educational experience on life as a prisoner in Auschwitz. I felt like I learned a lot more about life inside the fences as oppose to many written accounts from free men or nazi’s outside the fences.