If This is a Man by Primo Levi

If This is a Man, or Survival in Auschwitz in the US, is a testimonial text by Primo Levi that recounts his own experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp between 1944 and 1945. It was originally written in Italian and titled Se questo è un uomo.

The book describes how the concentration camp (or Lager) strips its victims (mainly Jews, and some other criminals) of basic necessities such as food, clothes to keep warm with, such that they have to depend on their own wit, tactics, or physical strength, and sometimes have to harm their neighbours in order to survive. Levi depicts how the Jews are dehumanised by the Nazi officers, harsh situation and hard labour, losing empathy and morality, which are what distinguish man from machines and animals. Yet, Levi also sheds light on good people in the Lager. There are those who insist on keeping themselves clean and thus also keep their dignity, those who share their rations of bread without asking for anything in return, or those who despite their illness persevere to keep the infirmary ward in cleanness and order. Levi credits these 'heroes' for helping him keep alive, not because of their aids, but because they remind him that there is still goodness in the world. A chemist himself, Levi records the situations in the concentration camp and people in it with distant rationality of a scientist.

Although this work records the atrocities of the German Nazi Party and captures this unique historical moment of WWII Europe, some of Levi's descriptions 'evilness' in the Lager resonates with our daily life. There is strong hierarchy in the camp, not only between Germans and Jews, but also between the strong and the weak, the skilled and the unskilled, the smart and the foolish, etc. This hierarchy resembles that of our society, where some people are often discriminated against or taken advantage of because some parts of them are considered inferior to others. In the book, we also see some Jews using tactics or physical advantage to better their situations in the Lager. They act resolutely to harm their neighbours in order to survive better, or obtain better positions in the Lager. Eerily, some of those people are very learned and cultivated, and act civilly and even courteously to others. Deep down, however, they have renounced human emotions and moral values. When I was reading these parts, I kept asking myself, 'how are these different from our normal life, except that we don't face the threat of death as intensely as they did?' By highlighting some of the similarities between the Lager and modern society, Levi seems to be asking us to reflect upon our lives. A testimonial account that moves even those who have not experienced or witnessed the historical event, the value of this book extends beyond its original role as historical record.