The Terror of Auschwitz

Book Review # 117542

History > European - 20th Century
Holocaust Studies

A discussion of the hardships of the Holocaust as conveyed in Primo Levi's autobiography "Survival in Auschwitz".

920 words () | 1 source | MLA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at the autobiography, "Survival in Auschwitz", where author Primo Levi explains, through his experiences in Auschwitz, how the wills of many men were killed before their physical deaths in the concentration camp. The paper therefore brings out how the Holocaust was much more than mass murder, but rather a systematic will-breaking and dehumanization of the minority population in Europe at this time.

From the Paper:

"In the autobiography Survival in Auschwitz, author Primo Levi explains through his experiences in Auschwitz that the wills of many men were killed before their physical deaths in the concentration camp. The idea of "killed in our spirit long before our anonymous death" is critical to understanding the Holocaust because it highlights that many survivors of the Holocaust were still greatly affected (mentally and/or emotionally) by their experiences as a concentration camp prisoner. It exemplifies that the Holocaust was much more than mass murder, but rather a systematic will-breaking and dehumanization of the minority population in Europe at this time."