The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Vancouver campus
Arts One Open
  • About
    • People
  • Themes
    • Repetition Compulsion
    • Remake/Remodel
    • Explorations and Encounters
    • Monster in the Mirror
    • Dangerous Questions
    • Borderlines
    • Hopes and Fears
  • Lectures and Podcasts
    • Lectures
    • Podcasts
  • Texts
  • Blog posts
    • Seeing & Knowing LB1 (2015/16)
    • Seeing & Knowing LB3 (2015/16)
    • Seeing & Knowing LB4 (2015/16)
    • Repetition Compulsion LB1 (2014/15)
    • Repetition Compulsion LB4 (2014/15)
    • Repetition Compulsion LB5 (2014/15)
    • Remake/Remodel LB3 (2013/14)
    • Remake/Remodel LB4 (2013/14)
    • Remake/Remodel LB5 (2013/14)
    • Monster in the Mirror LB1 (2012/13)
    • Monster in the Mirror LB2 (2012/13)
    • Public
    • All
  • Twitter

Thoughts on Survival in Auschwitz

I come from a Jewish family, and I regularly attended synagogue and services when I was younger. Because of this my parents and grandparents have always placed an importance on learning about the horrors of the Holocaust, and have had me read quite a few books about the Holocaust in the past. Most notably I have read the story called Night by Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor quite a few times. A few years after first reading his story he came to my synagogue as a guest speaker and it was incredible to finally see and hear the  man whose story hit me so hard in person. He had spent time in the grueling camps of Auschwitz and Buna, as well as Buchenwald.  Being able to put a face and a voice to the words that I had read previously was an indescribable experience, and it made me even more disgusted by, and interested in the Holocaust. There are not many Holocaust survivors still alive today, and I’ve been fortunate enough to hear a few of them speak about their tragic stories. Primo Levi was one of a very small amount of people contained in Auschwitz that survived, and he was able to survive due to a number of circumstances. Children, women, and the elderly were usually killed very early, leaving mainly young healthy men to work in the camps. As well as being a young healthy man, Primo was able to use his education to his benefit by gathering extra food rations to stay as nourished as possible. And he also was fortunate enough to fall ill at the perfect time, which actually ended up saving him, as Auschwitz was abandoned right around that time. I look forward to speaking about the story in class, as the Holocaust is something that I feel should be taught about in all schools.

 

 

 

 

Posted in blogs, lb1-2012 | Tagged with Levi

Creative Commons License
Faculty of Arts
Vancouver Campus
East Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1
Website artsone-open.arts.ubc.ca
Email artsoneopen@gmail.com
Find us on
    
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility