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Survival In Auschwitz (Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past: Local, Regional, and Global) Paperback – September 1, 1996

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,421 ratings

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The true and harrowing account of Primo Levi’s experience at the German concentration camp of Auschwitz and his miraculous survival; hailed by The Times Literary Supplement as a “true work of art, this edition includes an exclusive conversation between the author and Philip Roth.

In 1943, Primo Levi, a twenty-five-year-old chemist and “Italian citizen of Jewish race,” was arrested by Italian fascists and deported from his native Turin to Auschwitz.
Survival in Auschwitz is Levi’s classic account of his ten months in the German death camp, a harrowing story of systematic cruelty and miraculous endurance. Remarkable for its simplicity, restraint, compassion, and even wit, Survival in Auschwitz remains a lasting testament to the indestructibility of the human spirit. Included in this new edition is an illuminating conversation between Philip Roth and Primo Levi never before published in book form.
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Survival in Auschwitz is a mostly straightforward narrative, beginning with Primo Levi's deportation from Turin, Italy, to the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland in 1943. Levi, then a 25-year-old chemist, spent 10 months in the camp. Even Levi's most graphic descriptions of the horrors he witnessed and endured there are marked by a restraint and wit that not only gives readers access to his experience, but confronts them with it in stark ethical and emotional terms: "[A]t dawn the barbed wire was full of children's washing hung out in the wind to dry. Nor did they forget the diapers, the toys, the cushions and the hundred other small things which mothers remember and which children always need. Would you not do the same? If you and your child were going to be killed tomorrow, would you not give him something to eat today?" --Michael Joseph Gross

Review

Italo Calvino One of the most important and gifted writers of our time.

David Caute,
New Statesman Survival in Auschwitz is a stark prose poem on the deepest sufferings of man told without self-pity, but with a muted passion and intensity, an occasional cry of anguish, which makes it one of the most remarkable documents I have ever read.

Meredith Tax,
The Village Voice More than anything else I've read or seen, Levi's books helped me not only to grasp the reality of genocide but to figure out what it means for people like me who grew up sheltered from the storm.

The Times Literary Supplement (London) Survival in Auschwitz has the inevitability of the true work of art.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0684826801
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (September 1, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 187 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780684826806
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684826806
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,421 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
2,421 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book readable and insightful. They describe the writing as eloquent, well-crafted, and honest. Readers appreciate the author's insights and perceptions into the psychological and physical destruction of humans. They find the survival story gripping and riveting. The history is described as accurate and important for holocaust libraries. The account is described as authentic, truthful, and direct.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

130 customers mention "Readability"130 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They describe it as a must-read in Holocaust survival literature, providing an intimate look into the camps. The account provides an incredible view into the nightmarish reality of the camps.

"...: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder, an outstanding book about the intentional mass murder of over 14 million people between 1930..." Read more

"...This book was the most disturbing and intimate look inside the camps I have ever read...." Read more

"...Primo Levi With a poet’s skill for detail and evocative illustration, Primo Levi describes what happens to men when their humanity is..." Read more

"This is a wonderful book but I think people considering ordering this edition should know that it is substandard and possibly pirated...." Read more

108 customers mention "Writing quality"81 positive27 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They find it eloquent, well-written, and gives a real understanding of the Holocaust. The author's story is told beautifully in clear, calm language. It describes details of the camp without any pretense of completeness.

"...Primo Levi writes eloquently - though he has every right to douse himself in self-pity, Levi articulates his year-long experience in Auschwitz with..." Read more

"...Nor does he wish to level fresh accusations against the Nazis. Written in a calm, observational tone, Survival in Auschwitz sets out “to furnish..." Read more

"...He features the daily life of the prisoners, the cruelty of the rules, and the process of mental and physical annihilation of the deportees." Read more

"...His writing is a bit dry, perhaps also reflecting on his education as a chemist..." Read more

99 customers mention "Insight"96 positive3 negative

Customers find the book insightful and interesting. It provides a glimpse into the psychological and physical damage humans experience. The author explores the nature of humanity and provides a forum for understanding. Readers appreciate the philosophical questions and speculations, as well as Levi's thoughts and personal victories. Overall, the book allows readers to revisit and examine the greatness and misery of human existence.

"...As as man somewhat classically educated, he has a keen eye for the human condition of himself, his fellow prisoners, and his guards...." Read more

"...It was unnerving. He presents his experiences, thoughts, and actions unapologetically. His story breaches ethics and morality...." Read more

"...in Auschwitz with detailed observations, acute emotions, and kernels of universal truth that readers can relate to even now, seventy years after the..." Read more

"...memoirs, books and interviews, Primo Levi left behind an invaluable intellectual legacy that helps us recall, commemorate, and understand better the..." Read more

51 customers mention "Survival story"51 positive0 negative

Customers find the story gripping and riveting. They describe it as a true account of life in a concentration camp. The book provides perspective on the human condition and the will to survive horrible atrocities. Readers mention the book provides great perspective on personal victories and defeats during his survival.

"...His story breaches ethics and morality. It flies in the face of religion and established beliefs about good and evil. It frightened me...." Read more

"...His story objectively sincere allows us to relive and examine the greatness and misery of human existence...." Read more

"...a perfect and unbiased recollection what he experienced and skips the melodrama...." Read more

"...The camp was designed to grind all self-respect, all morality, all honor and all love out of its inmates...." Read more

17 customers mention "History"17 positive0 negative

Customers find the book an important history about the holocaust. They say it's a must-read for Holocaust scholars and a life-changing read for anyone. The book reveals the inner workings of Auschwitz in all its gritty details.

"...No doubt this is one of the most important Holocaust books ever written." Read more

"...As well as the inner workings of how the Jews and other prisoners interacted with each other...." Read more

"Great history of a person in the Auschwitz concentration camp...." Read more

"...the meaning of what Levi was saying, but still an important memory of a terrible time in history." Read more

9 customers mention "Authenticity"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's account authentic and compelling. They describe it as a first-hand, truthful, and direct account of the Holocaust. The autobiographical content provides an unbiased recollection of daily life in the camps.

"Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz has a high autobiographical component: reflections from his experience in the concentration camp and the..." Read more

"...It is truthful, direct, and powerful. What strikes me about this book, is how different it is from other forms of holocaust literature...." Read more

"...It's very stark, but very real." Read more

"...Told very matter-of-factly with no "fluff". A must-read in Holocaust survival lit...." Read more

41 customers mention "Emotional content"21 positive20 negative

Customers have different views on the emotional content. Some find it heartbreaking, disturbing, and raw with no softening of the horror. Others describe it as depressing and grotesque.

"I have read numerous Holocaust biographies. This book was the most disturbing and intimate look inside the camps I have ever read...." Read more

"...There are some graphic and emotionally disturbing scenes - this is not a lighthearted subject, but it is compelling, heart-wrenching, insightful,..." Read more

"...his year-long experience in Auschwitz with detailed observations, acute emotions, and kernels of universal truth that readers can relate to even now..." Read more

"...Not once does it mention nazis or Hitler. It is not a sad book but it is depressing." Read more

16 customers mention "Pacing"10 positive6 negative

Customers have varying views on the pacing of the book. Some find it moving and thought-provoking, while others find it dull and overly wordy. The description of one man's terrible experiences as a Jewish person is described realistically. However, some readers feel the story lacks flow and meaning, making it uninteresting and dull.

"...aplomb that few have, Levi is able to give a rather full and moving description of his personal experience in Auschwitz and its surrounding camps...." Read more

"...are some graphic and emotionally disturbing scenes - this is not a lighthearted subject, but it is compelling, heart-wrenching, insightful, and..." Read more

"...This book will move you, and give you new insight into how horrible the holocaust really was. Truly an outstanding work...." Read more

"Realistic, moving description of one man’s terrible experiences as a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz...." Read more

Amazing condition
5 out of 5 stars
Amazing condition
Interesting book that should be read by everyone.In the book Levi gives philosophical insights into a man and how he feels in his position. He rightly points out he would never have had these thoughts had he not been in Auschwitz. The book was in good condition, better than expected.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2011
    I'm a history buff, and my favorite time period is the World War II era ... both because it occurred recently enough that I can still talk to survivors of the conflict and because of all the changes in the world that happened in just a six year period. But as I've read or own many, if not most, of the worthwhile books about the fighting, I've recently begun reading and learning about what was happening away from the fighting. After reading "Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder, an outstanding book about the intentional mass murder of over 14 million people between 1930 and 1947, I decided to learn more about the Holocast and related topics. (Many of the books I've read did touch on the Holocast and the murders of other nationalities and ethnicities, but I've only read a bare handful of books dealing specifically about these sad events.) My buying this book is a result of my desire to learn more.

    "Survival in Auschwitz", by Primo Levi, is an excellent account of Mr Levi's year in Auschwitz. It begins with his train transport to Auschwitz and the separation of the train's passengers into categories of what turned out to be "workers" and "those to be immediately killed", and his subsequent transport into one of the labor subcamps. The book then covers his life and severe struggles for survival in the camp until his eventual liberation by the Soviets.

    While the book is arranged chronologically, it isn't a straightforward diary of events. The author, as he notes in his introduction, organizes the book into themes and things he feels most strongly about, while the timeline still flows chronolgically. Mr Levi was educated as a chemist, and after the war he worked in and later managed a paint plant until his retirement. As as man somewhat classically educated, he has a keen eye for the human condition of himself, his fellow prisoners, and his guards. His writing is a bit dry, perhaps also reflecting on his education as a chemist (although some of it could be the translation from Italian to English).

    Mr Levi wrote the book in a matter-of-fact manner about his time as a prisoner. At first, I was relieved that I wouldn't have to read too many more heartrending anecdotes as contained in other, similar books I've read. (I know that such anecdotes are necessary to be read so as to better remember the actions and inhumanity that had occurred, but they're still very hard for me to read.) But then, as the author matter-of-factly descibed the casual brutality, the simple choices that meant the difference between continued life or a trip to the gas chambers, and the things the prisoners had to do (even to other prisoners) just to survive, I began to feel that his non-emotional telling of his story might be even more frightening and unsettling than the other books were.

    The author states that it was basically a string of good luck and chance that he survived the camp, while most of the others perished. He possibly had a life-long guilt about his survival and likely suffered from long-term depression, as he may have committed suicide in 1987 (the coroner and three later biographers believed so, but others disgreed.) But this and other books he wrote about this time in his life, both factual and fiction, clearly give you a view into what it was like inside a concentration camp was, when death was but a short tap on the shoulder away. Highly recommended.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
    I have read numerous Holocaust biographies. This book was the most disturbing and intimate look inside the camps I have ever read. Unlike other books in the genre, Primo made me feel like I was a prisoner in the camp with him. It was unnerving. He presents his experiences, thoughts, and actions unapologetically. His story breaches ethics and morality. It flies in the face of religion and established beliefs about good and evil. It frightened me. It left me feeling deflated and defeated. Which I think is the point.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2015
    "For human nature is such that grief and pain - even simultaneously suffered - do not add up as a whole in our consciousness, but hide, the lesser behind the greater, according to a definite law of perspective. It is providential and is our means of surviving in the camp. And this is the reason why so often in free life one hears it said that man is never content." (Page 73)

    Primo Levi writes eloquently - though he has every right to douse himself in self-pity, Levi articulates his year-long experience in Auschwitz with detailed observations, acute emotions, and kernels of universal truth that readers can relate to even now, seventy years after the end of WWII.

    The writing style reads a bit dense at times, though whether Levi wrote it that way or it's due to the translation process I don't know. That being said, it isn't impossible to read - it forces readers to take his words in slowly, perhaps reread a sentence or two, and that may be where the power of his words stems from. No doubt this is one of the most important Holocaust books ever written.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2017
    Survival in Auschwitz
    Primo Levi

    With a poet’s skill for detail and evocative illustration, Primo Levi describes what happens to men when their humanity is systematically denied them. Published in Italy in 1958, as If This is a Man, the English title Survival in Auschwitz was a publisher’s decision. The original title maintains the more suggestive issue behind the book. Title aside, Levi’s book is perhaps the best book written about the existential experience of living in Auschwitz. It is also as clear a statement possible about how fragile is our humanity, and how easily ideological driven differences within a society can transform common citizens into sadists.

    Levi understood the camps to be a science experiment designed to eliminate the niceties that gird and enable individual and collective human co-existence. Hence, when the Jews arrived at the camps the Germans separated the fathers, the mothers, and their children from each other. They took away their clothes, cut off their hair, replaced their names with a number, and talked about them as if they were objects (stück). A couple hours after arriving in Auschwitz, all which remained of their humanity was their bodies. Their bodies would soon all look and smell like the living skeletons we associate with the concentration camps.

    Almost everyone who was not immediately killed was to put to this test: You are unconditionally alone. You will receive a minimum amount of food, the clothes we supply you are not meant to keep you warm, your shoes will rub your feet raw and the sores will get infected, you will get up at dawn and work throughout the day, and every day will be the same until we decide you must go to the chimneys.

    Moreover, no human kindness will be shown you. We do not consider you a human being. You will quickly learn to trust no one. Leave your spoon or bowl unguarded for a second and it will disappear. Sharing and caring for anyone but your self is a fool’s project; “eat your own bread, and if you can, that of your neighbor.” For the Jews, Auschwitz was not a punishment but a manner of living assigned to them by the SS. Life was reduced to “primordial mechanism.”

    The consequences of this treatment and how it plays out are superbly recounted by Levi. He writes that few prisoners consciously resigned themselves to their fate. Rather, they sank into the “opaque torpor of beasts broken in by blows, whom the blows no longer hurt.” They had lost their selves, become hollow, reduced to suffering and needs, fraternized in a uniform of internal desolation.

    Those who followed the rules were usually dead within three months. Only men with one of three qualities survived: 1) Those that they were physically powerful, 2) those who were ruthless and brutal, and 3) those that had a skill the Germans needed. In such a condition Levi asks if there any meaning to ‘good’ or ‘evil’, ‘just’ and ‘unjust’? Certainly our moral world could not survive. If that goes, so goes our humanity.

    Levi survived. He was lucky. At the beginning of his second winter in the camp the Germans opened a lab and needed Chemists. He was one and proved it. Inside the chemistry lab Levi had two things going for him. He was insulated from the winter, and he could steal equipment from the lab and sell it for food. Nonetheless, he had got to the point, as he said, where “I am not even alive enough to know how to kill myself.” He had been brought to the bottom, made hollow. Born 31 July 1919, Levi died 11 April 1987.

    This is a great book. Read it.
    75 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • I have already purchased this book from Amazon a few years back that's the reason I want to retirn it.
    5.0 out of 5 stars To return this book.
    Reviewed in India on July 21, 2023
    The media could not be loaded.
    I liked this book very much. The author has written it in a beautiful way which is very engrossing.
  • yeltrab, Janet
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book by Levi
    Reviewed in Germany on January 10, 2021
    It just arrived yesterday, so not enough time to have read it. Arrived quickly and in perfect condition
  • BEATRIZ ZARAIN RODRIGUEZ
    5.0 out of 5 stars Primo Levi, my favorite.
    Reviewed in Mexico on October 17, 2017
    Thanks for this wonderful book. The presentations is great. I enjoyed the size of letter and I finished loving again my dear Primo Levi. A wonderful narrator because he writes with his soul and a huge human being.
  • PatriciaMarguerite
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended and amazing treatment of difficult lives
    Reviewed in Canada on February 4, 2016
    One of the most outstanding books I have read. The author writes his experiences leading up to and including his time at Auschwitz. Yes, he stated the facts, but he also created fine character sketches of those who were around him. The book showed his insightful awareness and beautifully narrated analysis of the reactions of others and of himself. He used many words which I was not aware of but now are part of my repertoire (handy to have the smart phone nearby and look up those words). This was not burdensome for me because he didn't use the words to impress but rather to express his thoughts precisely.
  • Elina
    3.0 out of 5 stars A good book on the subject
    Reviewed in Italy on February 11, 2016
    Well, when I first heard of the Levi book and the praise about it, I immediately wanted to buy one. That's done, I waited when my little kid would allow me some time to read it. And finally I have done it. I am glad I read it. However, I had an impression from the other praises I have heard, that this book should be marvellous. As it really is good and has given me some new insights of the life in lagers, I expected it to be more inspiring. Instead it was a good and honest story of the heartbreaking everyday life in a concentration camp. What limits me to give the book more stars is that some chapters seemed to me odd and repetitous. And the fact that on the subject of sufferings from a totalitarian regime I have read some other books whom I'd give five stars, as for example "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn or "With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows" by Sandra Kalniete. Said that, I would still highly recommend this book as it is a must read on the Nazi concentration camps.