Levi, Primo. Survival at Auschwitz; The Nazi assault on humanity. 1st edition.New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.I. Survival in Auschwitz is the unique autobiographical account of how one young man endured the atrocities of a Nazi death camp and lived to tell the tale. Primo Levi, a 24-year-old Jewish chemist from Turin, was captured by the fascist militia in December 1943 and deported to the Buna-Monowitz camp in Auschwitz. The train journey lasted 4 long days in a packed freight car, without food or water. Once there, SS interrogations on age and health determined life as a prisoner or premature death. Levi along with hundreds of other Jews were stripped of their clothes, given rags to wear, had their heads shaved, and were tattooed with a number on their left arm for life. The number would be their solitary identity; it indicated the time of entry into the camp, the nationality of the individual and was the only way to obtain the daily food ration. In the camp, better known as Lager, man had to be cunning. He had to learn to get extra rations of soup and bread, to avoid extremely hard work whenever possible, and to never take his eyes off his belongings, otherwise they would be stolen. It was as much survival of the smartest as it was survival of the fittest. Everyone thought for himself; you could not show mercy to your fellow man, because that would have led to your own death. Due to his background as a chemist, Levi was eventually assigned to work in the factory's laboratory, which was a welcome change from the hard work he had been a part of. During his time at the factory, Levi suffered an injury and was sent to the infirmary, better known as "Ka-Be". Or was it a place of...... middle of paper......nter. I couldn't imagine being taken away from my family, my friends, my home and my life in an instant, being put on a train to nowhere, and subsequently living a life of persecution, dehumanization and imminent extinction. I couldn't imagine a world without the simple things I take for granted like my name, my dignity, my mind, and my soul. Being deprived of these things is in itself a death sentence. I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that this is the first book about the Holocaust I have ever read. I guess I thought that if I didn't become enlightened on the subject, I shouldn't believe that true evil was a part of this world. As difficult as this material is to read, it is important that people continue to educate themselves about the history of humanity, no matter how malevolent. If we don't recognize its existence, we risk it devastating the human race.