“Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself” (Wiesel 34). The world of Auschwitz is talked about frequently, discussed in many historical contexts, and the barbaric nature of this death camp is widely acknowledged. Nevertheless, the works of Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi – two holocaust survivors with countless stories to tell – open up a vivid scope into some of the devastating realities of the world that they so unjustly lived in during the second world war; these realities expose the unequivocal pain and heartache of these individuals’ experiences in a unique, unparalleled way. While nobody outside
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The stark contrast between their previous world and the one that immediately becomes their reality upon arrival would have been extremely difficult to comprehend for these two young men. In both cases, the protagonists are quickly reduced to utter nothingness, as their lives quickly lose essentially all meaning. As hunger and desperation set in, “the bread, the soup – those were [Elie’s] entire life. I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach” (Wiesel 52). Even with all the physical and mental pain and duress, that realization that every prisoner is meaningless and expendable is the most debilitating aspect of the experience of all. In Survival in Auschwitz Primo shares a similar sentiment: “a man who is deprived of everyone he loves… everything he possesses… he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs” (Levi, 27). This notion of losing everything that a person holds dear to them, leaving them empty and barren, is one of the most daunting aspects of life in Auschwitz. How can one live without meaning? It becomes clear that every ounce of meaning that these characters hold onto is critical; without it, they would lose their will to survive
The stark contrast between their previous world and the one that immediately becomes their reality upon arrival would have been extremely difficult to comprehend for these two young men. In both cases, the protagonists are quickly reduced to utter nothingness, as their lives quickly lose essentially all meaning. As hunger and desperation set in, “the bread, the soup – those were [Elie’s] entire life. I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach” (Wiesel 52). Even with all the physical and mental pain and duress, that realization that every prisoner is meaningless and expendable is the most debilitating aspect of the experience of all. In Survival in Auschwitz Primo shares a similar sentiment: “a man who is deprived of everyone he loves… everything he possesses… he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs” (Levi, 27). This notion of losing everything that a person holds dear to them, leaving them empty and barren, is one of the most daunting aspects of life in Auschwitz. How can one live without meaning? It becomes clear that every ounce of meaning that these characters hold onto is critical; without it, they would lose their will to survive