Survival In Auschwitz | Primo Levi | One of the best books I have ever read.

Survival In Auschwitz | Primo Levi | The Best Non-Fiction story of Auschwitz that I have yet to read!!!

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Survival In Auschwitz

	Survival In Auschwitz Primo Levi Touchstone, 1996 - 187 pages average customer review:based on 71 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the best books I have ever read.

This is the first book about the holocaust I have read that doesn't focus on the evil performed by the Germans, although that was done, but talks about the emotional and psychic changes that the inmates were forced to adopt due to the circumstances they were in. Because of this, in many ways the story is more frightening and horrifying. The need to survive was so great that much of normal human interaction was lost, and with it caring for your fellow man.

The Best Non-Fiction story of Auschwitz that I have yet to read!!!

I chose this book, Survival in Auschwitz, as part of my European Civilization class which I took at Georgetown University.
Survival in Auschwitz, by Primo Levi, and originally published in 1958 as "If this is a Man" is the author's account of his ten month imprisonment at a Nazi death camp. Levi begins his story in Italy, when, as a 25 year old, he is captured by the Italian fascists for being a Jew. He then begins to tell of his trip to Auschwitz, on a train, which lasted for four days, and which contained 650 people who were without access to food or water. Once at Auschwitz, and only after surviving the first "selection," Levi begins to work at the nearby kommandos, providing goods for the German war effort.
Levi's story of working at the factories is told in a chronological manner and uses an almost unemotional tone which seems to hide the impact of the atrocities which were taking place. While working, Levi tells the reader of the mass hunger the inmates were experiencing and how their meal intake had been reduced to a few pieces of bread and several bowls of soup a day.
Eventually, Levi is promoted to the Chemical Kommando (the German term for factory) where he serves out the rest of his days at Auschwitz working with hazardous materials.
Survival in Auschwitz, as Levi tells it, is a story of how the Nazi's tried to dehumanize and destroy the non-Aryan race.

Primo Levi's first-hand account of life at Auschwitz is perhaps is perhaps the most detailed and wonderful account of life at a Nazi death camp that I have ever read. Levi uses simple and detailed yet elegant language to show how the Nazi's tried to destroy their inmates. He paints of wonderful picture of how life at Auschwitz is similar to slavery, where people are forced to work and where people have no control over their own lives. Organizing the book chronologically helps to build to the emotional aspect of this book. In the end this book clearly shows what humans can do when hate becomes a major part of life.
Though I claim to have picked this novel for my European Civilization class, I probably also picked Survival in Auschwitz because I am Jewish myself and because I had family who were imprisoned in concentration camps around Europe. This story is the best retelling of life on a concentration camp that I have yet to read. I thoroughly enjoyed Levi's novel.

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A Fantastic First-Person Perspective

I've read plenty of books on Auschwitz and the concentration camp system. Most of them are great at explaining the machinations of the camp system and various experiences from a distance. In this book, Primo Levi puts you right in the center of Hell. Thanks to his amazing eye for detail and his wonderful eloquence you will get an understanding of the horrors of day-to-day life in Auschwitz that few books can provide. I devoured this book and immediately followed it with its sequel The Reawakening, and then The Drowned & The Saved.

excellent book

i had to read this book for a class but it was very descriptive and very well-written. emotional, heartfelt, etc.

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Levi paints a picture that you won't find in the history books

Primo Levi's description of his internment at auschwitz was very interesting for certain. He doesn't paint the picture of his time at Auschwitz with broad strokes, but rather is very specific so that you understand the day to day life of the people there.

The chapters I found most intrigueing were the descriptions in the first few chapters about the journey to the camp, and then the chapter entitled "10 days" about their freedom regained.

This is a book for someone who wants to get down to the specifics of the trajedy that was the holocost

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