Levi, Primo. Survival at Auschwitz; The Nazi assault on humanity. 1st edition.New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.I. Survival in Auschwitz is the unique autobiographical account of how a young man endured the atrocities of a Nazi extermination camp and lived to tell the tale. Primo Levi, a 24-year-old Jewish chemist from Turin, Italy, was captured by fascist militia in December 1943 and deported to the Buna-Monowitz camp in Auschwitz. The train journey took 4 long days in a crowded boxcar, with no food or water. Once there, the SS's interrogations on age and state of health determined life as a prisoner or premature death. Levi and hundreds of fellow Jews were stripped of their clothes, given rags, had their heads shaved, and had a number tattooed on their left arm for life. The number would be their solitary identity; it indicated the time of entry into the camp, the nationality of the individual and was the only way to obtain their daily food rations. In the camp, better known as Lager, a man had to be cunning. He had to learn to get extra rations of soup and bread, avoid extremely hard work whenever possible, and never take his eyes off his belongings or they would be stolen. It was as much about the survival of the smartest as it was about the survival of the fittest. It was every man for himself; you could not show mercy to your neighbor, because it would lead to your own demise. Due to his background as a chemist, Levi was eventually assigned to work in the factory laboratory, which was a welcome change from the hard work he had been subjected to. part of. During his time at the factory, Levi was injured and was sent to the infirmary, better known as "Ka-Be". It was either a place to...... middle of paper ......nter. I couldn't imagine being ripped away from my family, my friends, my home and my life in an instant, put on a train to nowhere and then living a life of persecution, dehumanization and extinction imminent. I couldn't imagine a world without the simple things I take for granted like my name, my dignity, my mind and my soul. Being deprived of these things is in itself a death sentence. I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that this is the first book about the Holocaust that I have read. I guess I thought that if I didn't enlighten myself on the subject, I wouldn't need to believe that true evil was a part of this world. As difficult as this document is to read, it is important that people continue to educate themselves about human history, no matter how malicious it may be. If we do not recognize its existence, we risk wreaking havoc on the human race..