Survival in Auschwitz is a memoir written by Primo Levi, an Italian Jewish Holocaust survivor who was sent to and worked in the Auschwitz-Monowitz labor camp during the last years of World War II. Levi's memoir is important for its contributions to the historical record of the Holocaust, as well as for providing a profound personal narrative through his memories of life in Auschwitz. Although the memoir succeeds in documenting some of the history of the Holocaust and Levi's memories, it is evident that Levi's memoir tells us more about Holocaust memory due to the gaps in historical contribution memoirs, the effect of memory on Levi's writing process, as well as the impact of memoirs on memorial communities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay When trying to reconstruct the past, there are two ways to do this: history and memory. The first refers to structured learning about the past using facts and evidence-supported documentation, most often from primary sources written or produced by people present at the time of the historical event in question. Conversely, memory refers to reliving or understanding historical events through the memories and personal experiences of others, which are transmitted and transmitted through memory communities into collective memory. This is recognized by Eviatar Zerubavel in “Social Memories: Steps to a Sociology of the Past”. As memory is shared within various social groups called “mnemonic communities” (Zerubavel 289) and stored in physical and virtual places called “social sites of memory” (Zerubavel 291), our memory would thus extend much further than what we personally have. lived, allowing us to learn about history through the memories of others. Examples of this, in terms of learning about the events of the Holocaust, are historical poetry such as Levi's "Epitaph" (Levi 11) and the testimonies of survivors of what Annette Wieviorka calls "the era of the witness” (Wieviorka XV). This includes the works of Elie Wiesel, who writes because he believes he “owes [his] memory to the dead” (Wiesel 16), and Levi's Survival in Auschwitz. When it comes to the memoir's historical contribution, it is undeniable that Levi's accounts provide an in-depth insight into life as a prisoner and labor camp worker at Auschwitz. Each chapter explains a different aspect of how he ultimately managed to survive living in Camp Monowitz, ranging from his deportation and arrival, to his life under the prison hierarchy, to the inner workings of the black market, as well as only by surviving several selections, before finally being obtained. liberated by the Soviet army. All of these experiences are unique to him, but they still serve as first-hand documentation for the historical narrative of the Holocaust. As Doris Bergen mentions in War & Genocide, Levi's accounts of the Holocaust were "some of the most insightful reflections on this event ever written" (Bergen 180). This is true when considering how Levi's words correspond to factual evidence of the events of the final years of World War II, such as how he began his memoir by describing his "luck" (Levi 9) d having been deported to Auschwitz. in 1944, and Bergen states in War & Genocide that the Germans had personally deported the Italian Jewish population "beginning in 1943"(Bergen 180). However, Bergen then follows up with the fact that "most of the Italian Jews murdered during the Holocaust died in 1944 or early 1945" (Bergen 180). This already shows a gap in Levi's accounts as he was clearly not part of the majority of deaths, whether in the gas chambers or otherwise, such as the "women... children... old men" (Levi 20) on the trains. goods he had killed. I never saw it again. In addition to this, Levi's experiences in relation to the Holocaust as documented in his memoirs did not begin until 1944, while the Reich government's anti-Jewish aggression took place well before Levi's deportation and involved experiences other than being sent to concentration camps, such as the various pogroms occurring across Eastern Europe and the ghettoization of Polish Jews from “late 1939 to early 1949” (Bergen 111). Despite their historical accuracy and detailed accounts of life at Auschwitz, Levi's experiences are not representative of the fate faced by most Holocaust victims, as these victims faced a wide range of consequences that did not necessarily result in their being sent to Auschwitz, let alone their survival. there. Thus, his memoir leaves more gaps than it fills in terms of our historical knowledge of the Holocaust, and is therefore comparatively more revealing of his memory than of his history. Similarly, Survival in Auschwitz can be seen as more memory-based due to the impact of Levi's memory on his memoir writing. Having been part of the surviving minority of Holocaust prisoners and having written this memoir "after his return to Italy in the fall of 1945" (Thomson 142), Levi is fully aware of the outcome of World War II and feels “oppressed by shame”. (Levi 150) and the guilt of having survived. Unlike other equally autobiographical primary sources that might have been produced by other concentration camp prisoners, Levi uses his memoir to relive his experiences at Auschwitz, knowing that he survives the entire ordeal and lives to tell the tale the story. In terms of content, his memoir would then be very different from an account written as the events of the Holocaust were unfolding, thus changing the way he would have perceived and reflected on his experiences rather than capturing his immediate, unconscious responses . Wieviorka also explains in the introductory chapter of The Age of the Witness that historians treat testimonies "with considerable suspicion" (Wieviorka XIII), only very occasionally using them to construct a historical narrative, because such narratives are rarely impartial or unbiased. (Wieviorka XIV). With this in mind, apart from Levi's awareness of the outcome of World War II and his feelings of remorse over his own fate, Survival in Auschwitz cannot therefore be used as factual historical evidence, as it primarily documents the Levi's memories of Auschwitz and lack of neutrality or objectivity in the opinions expressed. Additionally, Levi's motivations for writing his memoir also discredit it as a historical source. Wiesel, also a Holocaust survivor who feels guilty for surviving, writes to honor the dead, because “he owes nothing to the living, but everything to the dead” (Wiesel 16). His shame at being able to enjoy a post-Holocaust future when many innocent people – young and old – have perished is echoed by Levi, who chose to write for the sake of his “inner liberation” (Levi 9) in a quasi-therapeutic approach. to face his experiences. Furthermore, he recognizes that his memoirs “add nothing” (Lévi 9) to what readersalready know about the history of the Holocaust; rather, their goal is to formulate a study of the human mind from a sociological perspective. Although Levi makes an astute comparison between Lager and "a gigantic biological and social experiment" (Levi 87), documenting the story relies on facts, rather than seeking to understand it from other social aspects, or to “have fun while writing and having fun”. its] potential readers” (Roth 183). Another way in which memory impacted Levi's writing process is his decision to "write his book backwards" (Thomson 147), "in order of urgency" (Levi 10). By deciding to write the chapter he considers the most or most important, Levi is able to develop more careful, prose-like descriptions and transform his memoir into a "profuse, intensely literary and 'great complexity' (Thomson 148), which is another rarely found characteristic. in other historical sources. In the fragmented order in which After writing Survival at Auschwitz, Levi also makes numerous allusions to famous works of Italian literature, notably in the chapter entitled "The Song of Ulysses" in which he attempts to recite "The Divine Comedy" of Dante. This reference to Inferno and Dante's journey through Hell ultimately becomes representative of Levi's own journey to Auschwitz, showing how he viewed his experiences through a literary scope. Therefore, Survival in Auschwitz tells us more about the memory of the Holocaust, relying on Levi's unique views on the psychological significance of this historical event, none of which help historians reconstruct his historical narrative. Finally, the impact of Levi's memoir on the collective memory of the Holocaust plays an immense role in Holocaust memory. As he describes in the dream sequence in chapter 5 of Survival at Auschwitz, his sister and her friend are just two of the many listeners gathered to listen to the story he tells, this dream which is also that of his friend Alberto “and the dream of many others, perhaps of everyone” (Lévi 60). This shows his intention to share his story with those beyond the sphere of other survivors, allowing him to tell his story first to strangers on the Milan-Turin express train, then to his sister, before eventually reaching the general public (Thomson 144-45). ), managing to expand the collective memory with his words alone. Although his storytelling skills were applauded by his listeners, he was not met with such warm reactions when he printed his words. In his search for a publisher, he faced multiple rejections from American and Italian publishing houses (Thomson 155-57), ending his hopes of reaching a wider international audience with his memories. It was even rejected by a Protestant Jewish publishing house because “the timing was not right” (Thomson 157). During his interview with Daniel Toaff on Italian state television, Levi recalled speaking with a Polish lawyer who translated his answers for passers-by around them. Levi's answer regarding his identity was changed so he was a newly released political prisoner instead of an Italian Jew. When asked, the lawyer explained that “it was better for [him]; Poland is a sad country” (Return to Auschwitz). It appears from this that Levi's pre-published story was capable of contributing to collective memory on a small scale, only reaching a global scale once officially published. However, despite this, the original title of the memoir, If This Is a Man, was changed to Survival in Auschwitz for the American release (Roth 181), in order to promote a new message of strength and.