Primo Levi Auschwitz Summary

Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration camp of World War II held roughly 405,000 registered prisoners and of that number only 65,000 survived, not only were prisoners fighting for their lives but also their minds. Primo Levi approaches the psychological effects of Auschwitz with personal experiences, this resulting in a biased and partial recount. Levi describes the effects of the concentration camp on ones self-respect and human dignity and often inmates ‘resorting to mental, physical, and social adaptation in order to retain ones life and personality’. The brutal conditions and treatment of Levi’s inmates often lead to dehumanization of the prisoners ‘within the camps, prisoners were not treated like humans and therefore adapted animalistic