Survival in Auschwitz
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During the early half of the Twentieth Century, Europe has seen two devastating wars: The Great War, later named World War I, and World War II. While individual experiences between each war may differ greatly, the emotional impact has several similarities. Two examples include Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz, and Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Both books are first-hand accounts of the events that took place. The commentary, however, certainly leaves clues about the severe emotional struggle encountered there by the authors as well as the millions of others affected by both wars.
Levi's Survival in Auschwitz is a written account of his tribulations in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Through detailed narration we as readers can observe, second-hand, the hardship and misery experienced by one particular Jewish man during the Nazi occupation. The work describes the horrific encounters Levi experiences in the Holocaust, including views on both the physical and spiritual survival. These themes can be seen in Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front as well, and while both pieces illustrate the appalling effects of war on the human psyche, both also have rather differing reactions.
Levi is an Italian Jew, and being from Italy he is captured quite late in the war...