The Holocaust and Western Civilization The machine vs. the prisoner in Survival in Auschwitz In Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi has given his in depth personal narrative of the death camps during the Holocaust in a time when survival was wanted by many, yet few achieved. In his biography, Levi fails to paint a picture of the war that went on between nations during that time. Instead, he focuses on the war that occurred inside the camp, the war between the death camp as a machine and the prisoners. Levi writes that “precisely because the Lager was a great machine to reduce us to beasts, we must not become beasts.” (Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz. Touchstone, 1996, 41).
The novel shoes the misery of war and the everlasting effects it has on the soldiers; even Baumer cannot escape those circumstances. Before the war Baumer was a nice, empathetic, and gentle person but the war has him almost disconnected from his feelings. He becomes numb to the evil surrounding him. His friends are quickly lost to the cruelty and horror of war. Some died a quick death while others died a slow, painful death, showing the reality of war.
Even of his father..."(pg 105). Eliezer Wiesel loses his faith in God, family and humanity due to the experiences he has during his incarceration in the Nazi concentration camp. He struggles physically and mentally for life and no longer believes there is a God. "Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust..."(pg 32). Elie worked hard to save himself and asks God many times to help him and take him out of his misery.
“Motivations of the People” 05/09/12 “The history of the Holocaust has no happy ending, no uplifting message of redemption. It leaves us only with human beings, with their startling capacities for good and evil, and with an awareness of the complex ties that connect victims, perpetrators, and bystanders in Nazi barbarity.” The holocaust left little for direct interpretation. Neighbors became enemies, best friends became denouncers, and anyone who had something to gain was willing to give up the people they were, to be the people that survived the war. Though not everyone was willing to place their hand on the trigger itself, the actions that proceeded might as well have been one in the same. There was a choice, there is always a choice.
By no means did he have to continue but because the authority figure told him to, he did. Obedience of authority is simply people in charge telling others what to do and them doing it. This has been ongoing for years, and especially apparent in World War II with Hitler demanding the Nazis and death camps to kill all of the Jews. Even with famous history, it is still said that people will not obey authority if doing so with affect negatively another person like with injury. Milgram’s experiments proved otherwise.
Now that he became really successful, he felt bad that he proved Vladek wrong because at similar ages;Vladek went through Auschwitz while Artie became successful and famous through the publication of Maus. Pavel then points out that they were both in two totally different circumstances, Auschwitz and Rego Park, and that Vladek might have done these actions because he felt guilt that he survived the Holocaust while many of his relatives and friends died in concentration camps. Due to this guilt, he tried to imply that he was always right to
Not many people can wake up every morning and say that they have lived the life of Ishmael Beah, but when you realize that all he was doing the whole time was hoping for a change, you know you can relate. Even when Beah was brainwashed by the rebel soldiers, he knew (even though it was faint) that one day that things would get better. When you’re in a situation like that you really have two forms of relief, suicide or a stroke of God. If it had not been for the hope and the faith that he kept harboring inside of him, he probably would have resorted to suicide. Though Beah’s contribution to America is nothing tangible, it is something that holds a lot of weight.
Optimism vs. Pessimism “Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness, of captivity, would, without this comfort, be insupportable (Samuel Johnson).” Maus II: a Survivor’s Tale: and Here My Troubles Began presents the struggle of being capable to find hope, which enables the characters to survive the dreadful conditions experienced in the Holocaust. Throughout the book Maus II by Art Speigelman, the trials and problems of Vladek and his companions during World War II in Nazi Germany gives the reader a sense of uneasiness and dread as the characters are sent one by one to concentration camps. Although several themes are portrayed during the two-volume collection, Art Seligman’s emphasis and his attitude towards hope is evident during the whole series, “that is survival is not achieved
Elie Wiesel is a Jew who went through the terror of the holocaust and its concentration camp. He tells his story in his book Night. Night reveals how Wiesel lost his family, faith, and innocence to the evil of mankind during the holocaust. Wiesel believes it is important for people today to read this book because they need to be shown how important it is not to keep silent and let something like the holocaust happen again. Thesis was a bit wordy.
Vincent Lendoiro Dr. Ward Keith McCall 5-4-13 Essay Primo Levi States that his purpose for writing Survival in Auschwitz was “to furnish documentation for a quiet study of certain aspects of the human mind” (.9). What are the most important aspects of the human mind that Levi observes during his time in Auschwitz? During Levi’s time spent in the Auschwitz concentration camp, Levi observed different thought processes and thinking patterns amongst his inmates and the Nazi personal. While inside the camp, many of the prisoners had given up on all hope and lost their faith because their situation and condition were so bad. Many just went through the days events waiting for death to take them to their final resting place.