Strengths Of Memoirs

Memoirs offer historian first hand accounts of the experiences of life throughout history. There are obvious strengths and weakness to every memoir written. Being able to see from the perspective of someone that lived through important historical events is something you cannot get from a textbook. Reading their reaction and raw emotion can give us a better understand of a time period. When anyone speaks of themselves, their actions, or emotions, they want to be seen as a good and wholesome person that has made no mistakes in their life. This is the main weakness of a memoir. Even though memoirs are valuable primary sources, we as historians, must analyze the person writing the memoir and their motive for writing. Another important factor in
finding the within a memoir is how long after the event was it written. If the author waits years to write it memories can become altered.
For this assignment I chose to read Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz. This book begins with Primo Levi’s capture, so in order to understand the man that had written this book I decided to look up his early life. Levi was born in Turin, Italy on July 21, 1919. He was as a child very intelligent, introverted and sick. As an adult he went