ipl-logo

Primo Levi Chapter Summary

1195 Words5 Pages

In chapter fifteen of his memoir, Levi shares how Doctor Pannwitz eventually chose him and two others to work in the laboratory. Primo Levi shares his amazement of being chosen and states, “A Belgian, a Russian and an Italian: three ‘Franzosen’, in short. Is it possible that three Franzosen have really been chosen to enter the paradise of the Laboratory?” (138). Levi was surprised of being chosen because besides Jews being condemned in concentration and death camps along with political prisoners, within the camps there was an hierarchy in place, that placed Italian Jews at the bottom. The use of the word paradise in describing the laboratory shows a perspective of salvation and survival. In the laboratory, Levi no longer had to work in harsh …show more content…

Lorenzo was an Italian civilian worker who brought Levi a piece of bread and the remainder of his ration every day for six months, gave him a vest, and wrote a postcard on Primo Levi’s behalf to Italy. Lorenzo did not ask not accept any form of gratitude and did not believe in doing what was right for reward. Primo Levi states, “I believe that it was really due to Lorenzo that I am alive today; and not so much for his material aid, as for his having constantly reminded me by his presence, by his natural and plain manner of being good, that there still existed a just world outside our own” (121). Because of the humanity that Lorenzo shared with Primo Levi, he realized that even though his life as a prisoner was removing his sense of will, purpose and belief in humanity, he needed to survive to believe and prove that there was still good in people and society. The concentration and death camps of Auschwitz forced people to bury their humanity and fight one another for resources, power and a hierarchical system, but people like Lorenzo, showed Primo Levi that humanity could once again be pure and uncontaminated and that he too could once again believe in his own

Show More
Related
1227 Words | 5 Pages

Primo Levi’s book, Survival in Auschwitz, examines the inhumane and brutal treatment of the prisoners in Auschwitz inflicted by the Schutzstaffel. Primo Levi was a twenty-four-year-old, chemist whose only crime was that he was Jewish. He, like so many other innocent Jews, was sent to die in Auschwitz. In the his book, Levi, examines the different characteristics and traits that he and the other survivors had that set them apart from the other prisoners and ultimately attributed to their survival.

Read More
596 Words | 3 Pages

In 1943, during World War II, there was a mass genocide of the Jewish population. Many people in the concentration camps had lost everything from clothes to family to names. These people who after losing everything, gave up, lost their lives. But those who continued putting one foot in front of the other, made it through to the end. Elie Wiesel, a young boy at the time, has lived to tell the world about his experiences in Auschwitz.

Read More
650 Words | 3 Pages

Elie Wiesel describes the horrors and cruelty of humans, showing that people at concentration camps: SS, and SA. They used prisoners, tourchured, and let them die like they were nothing. The “The World” – What is it? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria.”

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

His experiences in the Holocaust changed his view on humankind. Not long after his arrival to Auschwitz he was on a procession heading to the crematorium. He noticed flames but soon saw the harsh reality of what humans are capable of “Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes… children thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that ever since then, sleep tends to elude me?)”

Read More
419 Words | 2 Pages

The severely cruel conditions of concentration camps had a profound impact on everyone who had the misfortune of experiencing them. For Elie Wiesel, the author of Night and a survivor of Auschwitz, one aspect of himself that was greatly impacted was his view of humanity. During his time before, during, and after the holocaust, Elie changed from being a boy with a relatively average outlook on mankind, to a shadow of a man with no faith in the goodness of society, before regaining confidence in humanity once again later in his life. For the first 13 years of his life, Elie seemed to have a normal outlook on humanity.

Read More
949 Words | 4 Pages

Ethan Saiewitz October 19, 2015 English 4: Holocaust Literature Ms. Beal Dehumanization and Poetic Language When one word or image is unable to describe the indescribable events of the Holocaust, many authors turn to metaphors, similes, and other figurative language to draw comparisons between the horrific acts and something readers might be familiar with. In Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi uses figurative language to convey how the Nazis dehumanized the prisoners and to make the traumatic experiences more relatable to the reader. Levi often draws comparisons between the prisoners of Auschwitz and animals. For example, in describing a fellow prisoner, Levi states: “He is Null Achtzehn. He is not called anything except that, Zero Eighteen, the last three figures of his entry number; as if everyone was aware that only a man is worthy of a name, and that Null Achtzehn is no longer a man.

Read More
1023 Words | 5 Pages

In the concentration camps, the Jews experience multiple forms of torture, including starvation. They ultimately have no purpose in life. They begin to lose value in themselves, to the extreme that, “The bread, the soup—those were my entire

Read More
494 Words | 2 Pages

But in Wiesel’s position, there was “guilt and mourning with their imprisonment in the concentration camp” like many others around because watching family and friends become weak, give up, or die was very hard (Hirsch 18). However, because of how scary the situation is, it showed the fragility of society and the impact that extreme circumstances can have on people, even to the extent that they separate themselves from those they care about and love. In today’s world, society accommodates the weak and does everything possible to protect them. But what if today’s society is forced into primitive times? This thought can be seen frequently during the Holocaust.

Read More
1613 Words | 7 Pages

“I speak from experience that even in darkness, it is possible to create light and encourage compassion. There it is: I still believe in man in spite of man” (Weisel). In his memoir, Night, Elie Weisel describes the atrocities of the Holocaust he lived through as a Jewish teenager in Auschwitz. As the prisoners were pushed beyond the imaginable, to the point where all that remained was the raw, human instinct to survive, people still fought against it and treated others with compassion and respect even as others around them were forced beyond the point of rational decisions to the point of pure cruelty. This exemplifies the idea that human beings truly are good at heart, as amidst the horrors of the concentration camps, the violent desperation of the prisoners and the brutal cruelty

Read More
889 Words | 4 Pages

In addition, a hopeful Pole in charge of the boys when they first arrived at Auschwitz spoke to them about the challenges they would face. “We are all brothers and share the same fate. The same smoke hoovers over all our heads. Help each other to be better. That is the only way to survive” (41).

Read More
1775 Words | 8 Pages

Let this essay be a reminder to the world that totalitarian ideologies will bring forth catastrophe just as National Socialism did in Nazi Germany. The memoirs of Rudolf Hoss, Death Dealer, is one of the most detailed accounts of a man who was the Commandant of Auschwitz, and is known as one of the greatest mass murderers in history. In the forward Primo Levi wrote to Death Dealer, he stated that even though this autobiography is filled with evil and has no literary quality, it’s one of the most instructive books ever published because it describes a human life exemplary in its way (Hoss, 3). In this essay, I will argue that Primo Levi thought Death Dealer is one of the most instructive books because it seeks to explain how ordinary men

Read More
1080 Words | 5 Pages

The weight of the death camps caused the feelings associated with caring for Shlomo to change from fear to guilt to shame. “I gave him what was left of my soup. But my heart was heavy. I was aware I was doing it begrudgingly.” (107).

Read More
457 Words | 2 Pages

Primo Levi’s story of prisoners in Auschwitz is a story of his own life, accompanied by others, all who endured years of mass torture, such as: starvation, abrupt climate changes, traveling conditions, dehumanization, humiliation, all which strip them from their own humanities slowly without knowing. Levi was tested mentally and physically throughout his entire story. Levi was captured by the Fascist Militia on December 13, 1943 and taken to multiple places around Germany that were not at all maintained for essential living capabilities. Once Levi arrived at Fossoli, a detention camp near Modena, there were about 150 prisoners. Just a few weeks later, there were over 600 prisoners.

Read More
1341 Words | 6 Pages

Woodrow Wilson, including his state secretary, William Jennings Bryan, came into office with little involvement in foreign relations. However, with an assurance to construct their approach in light of good standards as opposed to the narrow-minded realism that they accepted had energized their ancestors' projects. Persuaded that majority rule government (democracy) was picking up quality all through the world, they were anxious to support the procedure. In 1916, the Democratic-controlled Congress guaranteed the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands autonomy; the following year, Puerto Rico accomplished regional status, and its occupants progressed toward becoming U.S. natives. This paper intends to analyze a portion of the ways the US has dealt

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

It demands very hard labor with very little reward. Any “reward” actually given is in the form of food or watered down coffee. “Never shall i forget that night, the first night in the camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.” (Pg.34) It supports my thesis in terms as it is also describing how long and harsh the days went by and just how badly the conditions are that one would have to endure while occupying the camp.

Read More

More about Primo Levi Chapter Summary

Related Topics

Open Document