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If This is a Man (Also published as Survival in Auschwitz)
If This is a Man - Also published as Survival in Auschwitz Author:Primo Levi You who live safe — In your warm houses, — You who find, returning in the evening, — Hot food and friendly faces: — Consider if this is a man — Who works in the mud — Who does not know peace — Who fights for a scrap of bread — Who dies because of a yes or a no. — Consider if this is a woman, — Without hair and without name — With no more strength to re... more »member,
Her eyes empty and her womb cold
Like a frog in winter.
Meditate that this came about:
I commend these words to you.
Carve them in your hearts
At home, in the street,
Going to bed, rising;
Repeat them to your children,
Or may your house fall apart,
May illness impede you,
May your children turn their faces from you.
If This is a Man, published in the United States under the title Survival in Auschwitz, is Primo Levi's account of his experiences during WW2. Levi was captured by the Fascist Militia in 1943 and was taken to an internment camp. In February 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he stayed for eleven months.
Levi combines chilling descriptions with observations about what it means to be human, what people will do to survive under extreme circumstances, the importance of food, of warmth, of things we take for granted.