8

The Side of Good and Evil

“In conclusion: theft in Buna, punished by the civil direction, is authorized and encouraged by the SS; theft in camp, severely repressed by the SS, is considered by the civilians as a normal exchange operation; theft among Haftlinge is generally punished, but the punishment strikes the thief and the victim with equal gravity.”

The Black Market is described as a place for survival by Primo. With not enough food and clothing, the prisoners had no choice but to trade for food. The SS soldiers punished the prisoners that weren’t clothed even though they knew prisoners were trying to earn a little bit of more food in order to survive in exchange of their clothes.

“We now invite the reader to contemplate the possible meaning in the Lager of the words 'good' and 'evil', 'just' and 'unjust'; let everybody judge, on the basis of the picture we have outlined and of the examples given above, how much of our ordinary moral world could survive on this side of the barbed wire.”

Were there any side of good and evil in Auschwitz? Could anyone live by their moral standards in the concentration camp? I wish I could easily answer that if I was one of the prisoners, I would live day by day morally but I can’t deny the fact that I would do anything in order to survive whatever the cost may be. Therefore, I am saying that I wouldn’t take side of being good or evil. Even though I was able to see the good and evil and the just and unjust among the prisoners as I read the chapter, the prisoners themselves could have totally ignored of good and evil.