After the start of World War II, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union would unleash what would become two of the worst genocides in history. world history. These totalitarian governments would “welcome” citizens from all over Europe into a new domain. A field in which they would learn, in the most tragic way, the astonishing abilities that humanity possesses. The Nazis and Soviets gradually acquired the ability to wipe millions of people from the face of the Earth. Throughout the war, they will continue to kill millions of people, both in their home countries and in Europe. This was an effort to rid Earth of people considered unfit to live in their ideal society. These atrocities are often ignored and forgotten by the rest of the world, leaving little hope for those who suffered. Yet optimism was not completely dead in the hearts of the few and the strong. Reading Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi helps capture this strong feeling of resistance to the brutality of German concentration and Soviet labor camps. Both Bardach and Levi provide a commendable account of their long, nightmarish experience, including the impact it had on their lives and the lives of others. It was the will to survive that drove these two men to achieve their goals and prevent their oppressors from achieving theirs. Even after surviving the camps, their mission continued in hopes of spreading their story and preventing such tragic events from happening again. “Having the stamina to survive what left millions dead and millions more broken is heroic enough. To gather strength from this experience for a life devoted to caring for others...... middle of paper ...... it is advised early on that incurable illness leads to the fall (Levi). When Levi contracts scarlet fever, he knows what awaits him. Either he will die of illness or he will be put to death due to his inability to work (Levi). Fortunately, the Soviet army pushes its forces closer and closer to the camp, leaving the chances of liberation possible (Lévi). The Nazis lead an evacuation of the entire camp, with the exception of those in Ka-Be (Levi). Some believe that remaining there will only lead to their execution and decide to participate in the evacuation. Nevertheless, the Soviets arrived at Auschwitz a few days later to liberate the camp (Levi). Works Cited Bardach, Janusz and Kathleen Gleeson. Man is a wolf to man: surviving the Gulag. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1998. Print. Levi, Primo. Surviving Auschwitz. Np: Simon & Schuster, 1958. Print.