Initiation
“We are slaves, deprived of every right, exposed to every insult, condemned to certain death, but we still possess one power, and must defend it with all our strength for it is the last-the power to refuse our consent. So we must certainly wash our faces without soap in dirty water and dry ourselves on our jackets. We must polish our shoes, not because regulation states it, but for dignity and propriety. We must walk erect, without dragging our feet, not in homage to Prussian discipline but to remain alive, not to begin to die.”
Different from our daily habit of washing, it takes a great effort, energy, and warmth with little success of keeping oneself clean in the washroom that is far from attractive. As every part of the concentration camp has the worst conditions, it is evident that even the washrooms are extremely unpleasant. There would be no point of trying to wash everyday or expecting to keep their hygiene from washing from the filthy conditions.
The 3rd chapter could be described from the quote above. This quote is a contrast from what I stated about no importance of washing everyday for survival in concentration camps. The quote states that washing is not only for vitality and a factor for survival but it is also for dignity and propriety as Jews. More than having the will and spirit to survive, Steinlauf took them into action by showing the Germans and other prisoners that he is willing to try anything in order to live. Different from what Levi thinks, Steinlauf view every small things as significant. One who is put in for competition for survival in degraded conditions such as these, it is easy for him to devote himself for just plain survival.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
2
On the Bottom
Levi describes the conditions in Auschwitz as hell. The foul condition of an empty room with a tap which drips water that is tepid and not potable. It seems like it doesn’t even think much of simple vital element in living. The Nazi had taken all their possessions, their home, clothes, shoes, and their loved ones. The Jews were treated as they were properties since their names were taken away but just left as simple identity of ‘Jews.’ The quote, “Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his habits, his clothes, in short, of everything he possesses: he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs, forgetful of dignity and restraint, for he who loses all often easily loses himself,” struck me as every part of it was agreeable as if I was getting stripped of everything.
I was able to make a connection to my life and the environment that I live in. Even though I continuously complain about what I already have, difference between the concentration camp that the Jews are captured in and the house that I live in are tremendous. Even with the huge changes that the Jews had to go through, their conditions worsened as the treatment they received from the Germans and their labor debilitated their health and energy. There are endless lists that I had to be thankful for.
Levi describes the conditions in Auschwitz as hell. The foul condition of an empty room with a tap which drips water that is tepid and not potable. It seems like it doesn’t even think much of simple vital element in living. The Nazi had taken all their possessions, their home, clothes, shoes, and their loved ones. The Jews were treated as they were properties since their names were taken away but just left as simple identity of ‘Jews.’ The quote, “Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his habits, his clothes, in short, of everything he possesses: he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs, forgetful of dignity and restraint, for he who loses all often easily loses himself,” struck me as every part of it was agreeable as if I was getting stripped of everything.
I was able to make a connection to my life and the environment that I live in. Even though I continuously complain about what I already have, difference between the concentration camp that the Jews are captured in and the house that I live in are tremendous. Even with the huge changes that the Jews had to go through, their conditions worsened as the treatment they received from the Germans and their labor debilitated their health and energy. There are endless lists that I had to be thankful for.
1
The Journey
Primo Levi’s own account of the journey to Auschwitz made it real like I was one of the Italian Jews that were in the ‘journey’. Every description of his thoughts made me realize that many things would have went across my mind when I faced death. I would answer the questions that Levi couldn’t answer because he would be anxious and horrified about his uncertain future and it would help me to think as if I was in his shoes.
The Jews with no exception prepared for the next day, for their destination. Would they pray, drink and eat lustfully for the last time if they knew by intuition that they would soon start the journey to their death? “If you and your child were going to be killed tomorrow, would you not give him to eat today?” This quote made me think for a moment but it was pretty easy for me to answer this question without hesitation.
Eventhough the Jews didn’t know where they were going, they knew that the trains that would transport them would never return and that it would be going for a journey towards nothingness. The meaning that their train would never return, there is a certainty of death. The assurance gave limit on joy but as well as grief because the Jews wouldn’t feel any stronger feeling of grief than death.
Primo Levi’s own account of the journey to Auschwitz made it real like I was one of the Italian Jews that were in the ‘journey’. Every description of his thoughts made me realize that many things would have went across my mind when I faced death. I would answer the questions that Levi couldn’t answer because he would be anxious and horrified about his uncertain future and it would help me to think as if I was in his shoes.
The Jews with no exception prepared for the next day, for their destination. Would they pray, drink and eat lustfully for the last time if they knew by intuition that they would soon start the journey to their death? “If you and your child were going to be killed tomorrow, would you not give him to eat today?” This quote made me think for a moment but it was pretty easy for me to answer this question without hesitation.
Eventhough the Jews didn’t know where they were going, they knew that the trains that would transport them would never return and that it would be going for a journey towards nothingness. The meaning that their train would never return, there is a certainty of death. The assurance gave limit on joy but as well as grief because the Jews wouldn’t feel any stronger feeling of grief than death.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
0
The documentary
Frankly speaking, when we started to watch the documentary, I thought inside that it is the same thing that we do in every history classes. I roughly knew what happened during the Holocaust, I heard about it, and I felt bad for the Jews. But until I watched the video, I wasn’t aware of how the Jews must have felt in the concentration camps.
Why did the descriptions of Jews extermination camps from the documentary stay inside me? They must have been powerful-powerful enough to make me feel like there are some connections among us. I could feel how Jews must have lived every moment inside the “factory of death” and “a place where God didn’t exist.”
As I tried to study in my head how could a human do such things to another human being, I related these reasoning into our previous studies. Acceptable justification could be that only faith and belief of the Nazis had committed such treachery in human history. I believe God was present even in the concentration camps among the Nazis and the Jews but such unfortunate events took place because these people had abandoned Him.
Under the Germans, Jews had to live with fear of dying in the gas chambers everyday. There could be no mercy, trust, or love seen throughout the camps. Jews were living in hell. These innocent people were going through such trauma because of one man’s false belief. I would not know how exactly every agony was performed or what kind of lifestyle existed through the barbed wire, into the land of Auschwitz. But my understanding of the unfortunate event in the history of Jews gives me a feeling-pain in my heart.
Frankly speaking, when we started to watch the documentary, I thought inside that it is the same thing that we do in every history classes. I roughly knew what happened during the Holocaust, I heard about it, and I felt bad for the Jews. But until I watched the video, I wasn’t aware of how the Jews must have felt in the concentration camps.
Why did the descriptions of Jews extermination camps from the documentary stay inside me? They must have been powerful-powerful enough to make me feel like there are some connections among us. I could feel how Jews must have lived every moment inside the “factory of death” and “a place where God didn’t exist.”
As I tried to study in my head how could a human do such things to another human being, I related these reasoning into our previous studies. Acceptable justification could be that only faith and belief of the Nazis had committed such treachery in human history. I believe God was present even in the concentration camps among the Nazis and the Jews but such unfortunate events took place because these people had abandoned Him.
Under the Germans, Jews had to live with fear of dying in the gas chambers everyday. There could be no mercy, trust, or love seen throughout the camps. Jews were living in hell. These innocent people were going through such trauma because of one man’s false belief. I would not know how exactly every agony was performed or what kind of lifestyle existed through the barbed wire, into the land of Auschwitz. But my understanding of the unfortunate event in the history of Jews gives me a feeling-pain in my heart.
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