“I was captured by the Fascist Militia on December 13, 1943” (Levi 2). Thus begins Primo Levi’s account of the debilitation, demoralization, and destruction he witnessed as a prisoner of the Nazi regime’s largest concentration camp, Auschwitz. Levi’s memoir, If This is a Man, requires its readers to examine and comprehend the history surrounding the extreme actions taken against the Jewish population during World War II. However, in the 21st century, the understanding of this genocide is schooled into us in the midst of our primary and secondary education. While this knowledge of the past is necessary, to fully contextualize Levi’s oeuvre, one must essentially examine Levi himself. Therefore, the biographical, humanistic, and literary influences
