Primo Levi

             Primo Levi was an Italian novelist, essayist, and chemist, whose works were greatly influenced by his imprisonment for about 2 years at the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in Southern Poland.
             Levi was born to a Jewish assimilated family. He wasn't close to any religion, or to Jewishness, up until Italian government issued some restrictions for Jews. By that time Levi was a student in the local university. According to the new government rules, Jews were expelled from universities. Levi was lucky to get a degree; nevertheless, it was hard for him to find a job. In 1944 Levi joined an anti-fascist resistance group. Levi was captured and deported with other Italian Jews and political prisoners to the concentration camp at Auschwitz.
             Being a scientist, Primo Levi had a different look at survival in Auschwitz. He approached to the situation he was put in the way of science. He didn't really involve his emotional side. As in his novel "The Drowned and the Saved" he divides all prisoners on "drowned" and "saved." "" were people who didn't adopt and didn't want to adopt; and the "saved" were individuals, who wanted to survive no matter what, trying to stay alive in these tremendously hard conditions. As Levi said in many of his interviews, he survived because he was lucky. He was lucky to be taken to work in a laboratory. He even made friend with Italian Nazi, who helped Levi with food. Being a realist, Levi quickly adapted. He saw people he knew, who were "drowned" by arriving to Auschwitz. There was an officer who would ask each one of new arrived, "Can you walk or not?" Levi consulted with his friend who was standing next to him. He wasn't so young and had a poor health. Levi told him he'll say he can work, and his friend answered, "You do as you please. For me, everything is the same". He was one of the "drowned,"
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Primo Levi. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:54, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/73370.html