SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ by Primo Levi

I had read the book and its continuation THE AWAKENING very long ago. I remember that I was then deeply moved.  I could not understand at all when I learned from the news that Primo Levi had committed suicide in Rome later on,  some time in the 70's or 80's. It was never quite clear whether this was indeed a suicide or just a bad accident. But it struck me deeply that after surviving such a difficult life and overcoming mile high obstacles to reach freedom, after virtually wandering all through Europe by foot back to Italy, after writing several books, after making a new life, he needed to end his life. But nowadays and almost daily we read about solders returning from a war and suffering from it long time afterwards.

By chance, the book fell into my hands again and I had decided to quickly read it again. Except this time I felt more affected and more impressed by his simple style of repeating his innocent arrival at Auschwitz in l943, with the famous sign on the gates “Arbeit Macht Frei", the non-ending human misery and the non-ending disregard for human beings. How differently this vast suffering group of people tries to survive against all odds. Everybody is deprived the same way — they look like  skeletons, they lost everything,  don't own anything but their own body.  Stalk naked, no hair, skin and bones and all look miserably alike; always terribly hungry, sick and cold, they walk on without any hope that this part of their life will ever end — and most of them are able to hang on to life! It is a semi-existence and it surprised me that some men were just faring a bit better than others, better in so far that they would find subtle means in a place where everything has it’s price. It’s brutally honest in it’s day-to-day description. Primo Levi survives only because the camp becomes deserted just before the Allies arrive and he happens to be in the hospital because of scarlet fever — of course all the patients were left behind on their own.

Jay and I had just visited the Dachau concentration camp  a few weeks back. This visit combined with reading the story again reminds me of  the dangers of our apathy and our own responsibility in the face of human cruelty. See how little we bother to do!