This is an account of the author’s sojourn in Auschwitz.

It is wonderfully written but horrifying.

Levi was 24 when he was captured by the Fascist Militia.

The men and women are divided. The men never see tthe women again. The men are divided into fit and unfit. They have a terrible thirst after having had nothing to drink for four days.

They have to take off all their clothes and shoes. They are “shaved and sheared”.

They are at a work-camp at Monovitz, near Auschwitz.

They have a shower in boiling water and are then given rags to wear and “broken-down" boots with wooden soles.

The water is not drinkable but they get watery soup every day.

They don’t understand what they are told and are thrust into the icy snow barefoot and naked with the clothing in their hands They run to the next hut and are finally permitted to get dressed in the rags.

They had reached the bottom. No human condition was more miserable than this.

Each man is “a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs.” “He who loses all often easily loses himself.” They had no name, only a number.

Primo is a “Häftling”. His number is 174517. The number is tattoed on his left arm.

Only by showing one’s number can one get bread and soup.

To the old hands of the camp, the numbers told everything – the period of entry into the camp, the convoy one formed a part of, and thus the nationality.

When they ask for something they are told “This is not a sanatorium.” “The only exit is by way of the chimney.” They soon learn what this means.

The camp is called the “Lager”. It is a square of about six hundred yards in length, surrounded by two fences of barbed wire, the inner one carrying a high tension current.

There are sixty wooden huts called Blocks.

There are two men in most of the bunks, which are portable planks of wood, each covered by a thin straw sack and two blankets.

The guests of the Lager are the criminals, the politicals and the Jews. They are all clothed in stripes, all are “Haftlinge”. The Jews, who form the large majority, wear the Jewish Star, red and yellow.









It is best to get a ladleful of soup from the bottom of the vat, as otherwise the soup is too watery.

Everything is liable to be stolen so they need to sleep with their head on a bundle made up of their jacket and all their possessions, including their bowl and shoes.

If one goes to the latrine or washroom, everything has to be carried along, and while one washes one’s face, the bundle of clothes has to be held tightly between one’s knees so as not to be stolen.

“Death begins with the shoes.” They can be instruments of torture which after a few hours of marching cause painful sores, which become totally infected.

Everybody walks except those who are ill. All hours of light are working hours.

Levi quickly gets numb sores on the back of his feet that will not heal.

His belly is swollen, his limbs emaciated, his face thick in the morning, hollow in the evening, Some have yellow skin, others grey.

The slab of bread “seems gigantic in your neighbour’s hand, but in your own hand so small as to make you cry”.

The floor of the washroom is covered by mud. The water is not drinkable and has a revolting smell. Often there is no water.

He is given work carrying coal sacks together with a man called “Null Achtzehn” - Zero Eighteen.

Null Achtzehn is no longer a man – he gives the impression of being empty inside. He is very young and indifferent to the point of not even troubling to avoid tiredness or blows or to search for food. He carries out all the orders he is given and when they send him to his death he will go with the same indifference.

Primo belongs to the category of “economically useful Jews”.

They have a medical examination. Afterwards a Pole says to him “Du Jude, kaput, Du schnell fertig.” (You Jew, finished, You soon ready for crematorium,)

His foot is wounded, and thus he goes to Ka-Be.

Ka-Be is an abbreviation of Krankenhaus, the Infirmary,

It is a life of limbo. It is not cold, there is no work to do, and unless you commit some fault, you are not beaten.

The bread is distributed at half-past five and one can cut it into thin slices and eat it lying down.

There is also an evening ration, served in bed.

One man gives Primo his spoon and knife as part of a group being led out with long hair and without being treated, without a shower, They are going to the crematorium.

After thirty days of Ka-Be, when his wound is practically healed, to his great displeasure, Primo is discharged,

Alfredo is his best friend, He is only 22, two years younger than Primo.

In the winter the nights are long and they are allowed a considerable interval of time to sleep.

In the winter, the men’s only purpose is to reach the Spring.

“The Lager is hunger; we ourselves are hunger. Living hunger.”

The word “Muselmann” is used to describe the weak, the inept, those doomed to selection .

The Muselmanner form the backbone of the camp, “an anonymous mass ---- of non-men who march and labour in silence, the divine spark dead within them, already too empty to really suffer”.

The men’s hunger is not the feeling of missing a meal and their way of being cold needs a new word.

“If the Lager had lasted longer, a new, harsh language would have been born; and only this language would express what it means to toil the whole day in the wind with the temperature below freezing, wearing only a shirt, underpants, cloth jacket and trousers and in one’s body nothing but weakness, hunger and knowledge of the end drawing nearer.”

The young tell the young that only the old ones will be chosen, The healthy tell the healthy that only the ill will be chosen.

The Germans and Poles go to work in rubber jackets, woollen ear-pads and padded overalls, and the English have wonderful fur-lined jackets.

In Primo’s Lager, except for a few of the privileged, they have distributed no overcoats, so they are left in their summer jackets.

Primo was chosen as one of the three Halftlinge for the chemical laboratory.

As a specialized worker, he has the right to a new shirt and underpants and must be shaved every Wednesday.

The temperature in the laboratory is wonderful – 65 degrees F.

They should suffer neither hunger nor cold this winter. This means they are not likely to fall seriously ill, nor be frozen.

But he gets scarlet fever and is sent to the Ka-Be. All the healthy prisoners are evacuated on January 18, 1945,

All the Germans leave. The towers are empty.

There was no more water or electricity; broken windows and doors were slamming in the wind.

They found two sacks with potatoes and also a cast-iron stove which they took to their hut in a wheelbarrow.

A broken window was repaired and the stove made to work, They had found wood and coal.

They had enough potatoes for two days only and had to melt the snow for water,

The Germans had left and they were free, but many men died The Russians arrived and now the prisoners had to find out how to get home.

This is a shocking account of the prisoners’ life in Auschwitz, Primo has written a sequel telling how he got home. ( )

Si esto es un hombre
Primo Levi
Publicado: 1947 | 200 páginas
Crónica Historia
Serie: Trilogía de Auschwitz #1

Si esto es un hombre, el libro que inaugura la trilogía que Primo Levi dedicó a los campos de exterminio, surgió en la imaginación de su autor durante los días de horror en Auschwitz, cuando la principal preocupación de los prisioneros era que, de sobrevivir, nadie creería la atrocidad de la historia vivida. Los campos de concentración y exterminio, más que resguardados por las alambradas y los guardias, lo estuvieron por su propia monstruosidad, que los hacía inconcebibles.

"Se questo è un uomo" di Primo Levi è un libro che lascia un'impressione profonda e duratura nel lettore. È una testimonianza toccante dell'esperienza dell'autore nei campi di concentramento nazisti durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale.

Levi scrive in modo semplice ma intenso, raccontando le vicende della sua vita nel campo di concentramento di Auschwitz con grande precisione e dettaglio. La sua narrazione non è solo una descrizione degli orrori che ha vissuto, ma anche una riflessione su ciò che significa essere umani e su come la dignità e la speranza possono sopravvivere anche nelle situazioni più estreme.

La sua capacità di descrivere le persone e le loro emozioni, le loro paure e le loro speranze, rende questo libro un'opera straordinaria. Il modo in cui descrive la degradazione e la disumanizzazione che hanno subito i prigionieri nei campi di concentramento è commovente e toccante.

Inoltre, Levi è in grado di mostrare la complessità della vita nel campo, dove anche i prigionieri stessi sono costretti a combattere tra di loro per sopravvivere. La sua analisi del comportamento umano in queste situazioni estreme è profonda e illuminante.

"Se questo è un uomo" è un libro che dovrebbe essere letto da tutti. È un'opera che ci ricorda l'importanza della dignità umana e della speranza, e ci insegna che anche nelle situazioni più difficili possiamo trovare la forza di andare avanti. La testimonianza di Primo Levi ci fa riflettere sulla natura umana e ci invita a non dimenticare mai gli orrori del passato, al fine di evitare che accadano di nuovo in futuro.

"Se questo è un uomo" è una testimonianza straordinaria della vita nei campi di concentramento nazisti durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Primo Levi, un giovane chimico italiano di origini ebraiche, fu arrestato nel 1943 e deportato ad Auschwitz insieme ad altri prigionieri.

Il libro inizia con la descrizione del viaggio in treno verso il campo di concentramento, un'esperienza traumatica e disumana in cui i prigionieri venivano stipati in vagoni merci e privati di cibo e acqua per giorni. Levi descrive la disumanizzazione subita dai prigionieri, ridotti a numeri e privati della loro identità.

Una volta arrivati ad Auschwitz, Levi e gli altri prigionieri vennero sottoposti a una serie di controlli e selezioni brutali che determinavano il loro destino. Alcuni venivano selezionati per il lavoro forzato, mentre altri venivano mandati direttamente alle camere a gas.

Levi descrive la dura vita quotidiana nel campo, in cui la fame, la malattia e la violenza erano all'ordine del giorno. Ma il libro non è solo una testimonianza degli orrori del campo, ma anche una riflessione sulla natura umana e sulla dignità dell'uomo.

Levi analizza il comportamento dei prigionieri, che spesso dovevano lottare tra di loro per sopravvivere. Ma nonostante tutto, Levi mostra come alcuni prigionieri siano stati in grado di mantenere la loro umanità e la loro speranza, come una sorta di protesta contro la disumanizzazione del campo.

"Se questo è un uomo" è un libro che ci ricorda che l'umanità è fragile e preziosa e che anche nelle situazioni più estreme, la dignità e la speranza possono essere mantenute. È un'opera che ci invita a riflettere sulla natura umana e a non dimenticare mai gli orrori del passato, al fine di evitarne la ripetizione in futuro. ( )

Estructurado en 17 capítulos, el libro es la crónica del horror cotidiano, de las privaciones como estado habitual, de la triste espera de la nada arraigada en una iniquidad sin estridencias. Más allá de las propias reflexiones, Levi presta especial atención al comportamiento de los otros prisioneros, ocupados también en sobrevivir un día más, y otro y otro. Todos conviven en una inercia dolorosa y absurda con la tentación de la inactividad como antesala de la muerte; la muerte es una presencia constante, a menudo indiferente, corolario de una cotidianidad regida por un sistema de irracionales normas no escritas.

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