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.