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Theme Of Survival In Auschwitz

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Recommended: Language and cultural identity essay

There are over seven thousand languages in use today all around the world (Lingua, 2022). This expansive network of languages and dialects differentiates cultures and links segments of people to their unique language. As a result, we see that language is of great importance in our society as it acts as a way to unite people from similar backgrounds. The process of unification and the idea of shared culture is one that the Nazi regime attempted to squash when bringing prisoners into their concentration camps. They wanted to ensure that no bonds could be created between prisoners, making them feel isolated and alone. This was done by dividing prisoners based on language so that people who identified with the same language were not able to stay …show more content…

By examining the relationship between Levi and other Italians in the camp, as well as highlighting the differences between those who adapt to the language barrier and those who do not I intend on showing how language can be used both as a means of unification and method of isolation.
Throughout Primo Levi’s memoir “Survival in Auschwitz,” we see language as a prevalent theme that has major implications on the prisoners. The main theme we see is that language acts to divide and isolate the prisoners of the camp. One example of this division created by language in the book can be seen in the prisoner Klaus. Klaus is a prisoner that is introduced in chapter 14 of Primo Levi’s book and he exemplifies the division created by language due to Nazi manipulation. Kraus is a Hungarian who works with all the effort he can muster much to the dissatisfaction of his fellow prisoners. Levi believes that this immense level of effort exerted towards work will eventually be the death of Kraus, however Kraus does not understand Levi when he is telling him this. In fact, it gets to the point where …show more content…

Language is present in every element of the camp whether it be the guards calling the men to role call, people talking amongst themselves in the barracks, or even simple tasks and phrases given to the prisoners. Due to this immense power of language, the Nazis attempted to divide the prisoners in a way that ensured they would not be around people with a common language. This division leads to a disconnect among prisoners and creates a feeling of isolation. However, once a deeper dive is done into the reading, we can see that language or more precisely the adaptation to language can actually be used to not only prevent isolation, but create deep bonds. These bonds as well as the differences among the people of the camp show how language works to both divide and unite the prisoners in Levi’s memoir “Survival in

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