Primo Levi

Primo Levi “The aims of life are the best defense against death.” (Levi) That is one of Primo Levi's quotes from his book, Survival in Auschwitz. Primo Levi is known for writing books about the Holocaust. He was also a chemist. As an Italian-Jew he was put in a concentration camp. After the camp was liberated by the Russians, a year later, he was finally free from the Nazis. Primo Levi was born on July 31, 1919. He was raised in a small Jewish community in Turin, Italy with his parents and younger sister. According to My Jewish Learning, Levi was socially withdrawn and often bullied for his small frame and timid deposition. He was very smart and focused a lot on his studies. He found his love for chemistry after reading Concerning the Nature of Things. After that he decided to be a chemist. Levi went to University of Turin to study chemistry. Although it was illegal for Jews to go to school, a professor helped Levi and he graduated. As stated on Biography, "Using a false identity and forged papers, he was eventually employed as a chemist with a mining company and…

through appearances and trades. Primo Levi details the stories of how salvation is possible in chapter nine, through the stories of Schepschel, Alfred L. Elias and Henri. Alfred L. was an engineer before imprisonment and Primo Levi describes his story as “how vain the myth of original equality among men” can be (93). Levi states that when he met him he did not appear to be in good shape but showed signs of a disciplined and methodical attitude. His job was to clean Polish workers’ pots daily,…

Primo Levi, an Italian-Jewish man of many talents – chemist by trade, writer, Holocaust survivor – was born to a liberal family in Turin, Italy in 1919. Survival in Auschwitz is Levi’s first published piece, written just two years after the conclusion of World War II. Rather than focusing on Levi’s early life and the beginning of his career as a chemist, the memoir opens with Levi’s capture by the Fascists and subsequent deportation to a detention camp. After a period of time spent at the…

The most common connection between Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz and Gulag Voices edited by Anne Applebaum is the fact that these memoirs are from people who survived, and were both mentally and physically capable of surviving these horrendous camps. Applebaum states that, “the writers [of these books] survived, and all of them emerged both physically and mentally intact.” This is an important fact, because these writers are writing, on some level, on behalf of those who perished in the…

Survival in Auschwitz is an account of a Jewish man’s experience in a Nazi death camp. Primo Levi, the author and main character, wrote the book as part of his therapy for the trauma he experienced from being in Auschwitz. The memoir begins with Levi describing his living in the mountains as part of a group that hoped to join the resistance movement preceding his capture by the Nazis and imprisonment in a detention camp. Following this he and the other Jewish people in the camp are brought to…

The holocaust demonstrated that profound quality is versatile in outrageous conditions. Customary profound quality stopped to be so inside the security fencing of the inhumane imprisonments. Inside the camps, detainees were not treated like people and along these lines adjusted carnal conduct important to survive. The "conventional good world" (86) Primo Levi refers to in Survival in Auschwitz, stops to exist; the implications and utilizations of words like "great," "wickedness," "just," and…

the autobiography” If this is a man” written by Primo Levi, it described the experience of Levi during his journey in the notorious concentration camp of Auschwitz from 1944 to 1945. This book act as a bibliography and a reminder of what we as human are capable. In the concentration camp, Levi had suffered a lot, both physical and mentally as the concentration camp exercises Levi’s body and spirit for survival. Not only did Levi faces hunger every day from the insufficient supply of water and…

“Periodic Table” by Primo Levi elaborates on the idea that one must make personal sacrifices in order to experience true fulfillment. Throughout the novel, he highlights on the challenges one faces while executing self-serving actions. While working in Milan, Levi withholds romantic feelings for his fellow co-worker, Giulia, due to his lack of taking risks. Rather than pursuing a relationship that would bring happiness for both himself and Giulia, he “[does] not return her embrace” as he fears…

Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen is comparable to Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, since they both offer first-hand accounts of life inside of Auschwitz. Despite the obvious similarities between the two books, it is important to recognize and consider the differing perspectives offered by each author. The most apparent difference between Tadeusz Borowski and Primo Levi is that Borowski was a political prisoner in Auschwitz, while Levi was a Jew. This meant that they had markedly…

In Primo Levi’s Survival of Auschwitz, he tells us a story of his time at Auschwitz and the horrors that happened at this camp. This story shares some key aspects of Enlightenment thought. This book helps us to understand Enlightenment ideas such as human nature, self-interest, natural laws, and even Thomas Hobbe’s idea of the State of Nature. There is a lot of horror in this camp and many of the prisoners struggle to survive and maintain their humanity. I will look at the Enlightenment…