What Is Meant By Ethical Levi's Survival In Auschwitz?

Primo Levi's, Survival in Auschwitz, provides a harrowing account of his experiences inside the infamous Nazi concentration camp. Among the many disturbing aspects of his narrative, Levi's relationships with the guards and civilian workers in Auschwitz stand out as particularly troubling. Throughout his time in the camp, Levi was subjected to constant abuse and violence from the guards, who were often sadistic and cruel. Meanwhile, his interactions with the civilian workers were more complex, as they occupied a more ambiguous position in the camp's hierarchy. In both cases, however, Levi's relationships were characterized by a profound distortion of ethical standards. The environment fundamentally altered how basic moral values and ethical

The guards were often sadistic and violent – taking pleasure in the suffering of their prisoners, treating them as objects to be exploited and discarded. Specifically, they subjected the prisoners to constant abuse, beating them with clubs, sticks, and whips, and engaging in other acts that resulted in various psychological and physical impairments. He also notes that the guards' savage behavior was extremely demeaning, so much so that it became difficult for the prisoners to recognize themselves as human beings. He writes, "...the Lager was a great machine to reduce us to beasts," where this transformation resulted from the brutal conditions, physical and mental abuse, and the constant fear that prisoners faced while in the camps (Levi 41). His choice of words suggests that the Lager was not only a physical place but simultaneously a psychological state of mind that the prisoners had to endure; prisoners were forced to abandon their values, beliefs, and identities to ensure that they would see another

Levi describes how the prisoners were forced to steal from each other, betray each other and engage in other forms of compromise to stay alive. He notes that there was little room for empathy and compassion, and standards once known as acceptable were systematically undermined and destroyed. Staying alive, through whatever means necessary, became the overriding concern for all prisoners, and many relied on nearly animalistic instincts. In the abnormal environment of the concentration camp, theft, for instance, became a means of survival rather than a moral failing since prisoners were deprived of necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter. As many were forced to resort to any means necessary to ensure their survival, stealing became a common