According to Premo Levi's book The Survival of Auschwitz how did Auschwitz systematically dehumanize prisoners - Essay Example

History and Political Science, Essay Topic: According to Premo Levi's book "The Survival in Auschwitz" how did Auschwitz systematically dehumanizes prisoners? Countless numbers of prisoners in the Auschwitz German concentration camp embraced death. Human beings were internally destroyed first before being killed brutally. Each prisoner owns a story, some told and many untold. Primo Levi was lucky amongst the unlucky to undergo the tortuous procedure of survival. Men, women and children were dumped in the concentration camps not for the purpose of reformation and rehabilitation. Their spirits were totally subdued before their bodies were disposed of through heinous procedures. Primo Levi writes, “Then for the first time we became aware that our language lacks words to express this offence, the demolition of a man. In a moment, with almost prophetic intuition, the reality was revealed to us; we had reached the bottom. It is not possible to sink lower than this; no human condition is more miserable than this, nor could it conceivably be so.”(16) Even the garbage that is being lodged in the dumpers commands some sort of discipline and procedure for disposal. But the human beings in the concentration camps were stripped of all their possessions, their self-respect included. Levi’s only apprehension was what he was going to lose next? Was there anything more for being robbed at all! The dehumanization process in the camp Dehumanization is the psychological process; one’s feelings and emotions are attacked. It is more vicious than the physical violence. In the psychological torture of an individual he is made to feel not worthy, he is the lesser category of a human being. He is alienated from the normal society, mocked at for no personal fault. His individuality is put to test severely and conditions are created that he will be facing death at the time, only place and manner to be decided by the authority that has imprisoned him. That was the philosophy of the people who created Auschwitz. When you were confronted with the dehumanizing process, in the circumstances prevailing in Auschwitz, physical confrontation with those responsible for that malicious activity was impossibility. But you were forced to fight for your humanity and to protect the individual dignity. You were conscious in your inner world that you did not deserve the treatment that you were getting. You had the vague conviction that something dramatic would happen and there was going to be an end to the mean process. Those who were in charge of the camp were treating the prisoners like the animals, and you would not like to be one; you resist that with all the inner strength at your command. To survive in those grim circumstances for ten months spoke about the grit and strong will power of Primo Levi, as many of the fellow-suffers in the camp perished. The beginning of the dehumanization process—was it dehumanization or much more? Auschwitz was not the beginning; it was one of the terminals of the dehumanization process. Levi writes, “With the absurd precision to which we later had to accustom ourselves, the Germans held the roll-call. At the end the officer asked, “Wieviel stuck?” The corporal saluted smartly and replied that there were six hundred and fifty “pieces” and that all was in order.”(5) Primo Levi’s desperate struggle against this demonic process began before his arrival at Auschwitz. From Italy preparations for transportation of a group of six hundred and fifty people began and they were to be condemned to death. At the time of boarding the train the dehumanization process began. Levi writes, “Here we received the first blows: and it was so new and senseless that we felt no pain, neither in body nor in spirit. Only a profound amazement: how can one hit a man without anger?”(5) In the wagon where he was seated, there were forty-five people and only four survived, including Levi. During the journey to Auschwitz they had to encounter cold, torment, and thirst and not to mention about the filthy conditions. They were just treated like the cattle. On reaching the destination, men were separated, children were taken away from their parents, and from that day onwards Levi never saw his family. The camp manger stuck to the dehumanization process of the prisoners, and they were following a strict syllabus perfected by the Nazis. On reaching the camp, prisoners were forced to undress and all his possessions were confiscated. His hair was cut and Levi was shaved and given a prison uniform and prison No. 174517 was tattooed on his arm. The uniforms were either undersized or oversized and the same was the case with the shoes. Their quality was poor and offered no protection from the cold. They were put in a dark room, told to wait and touch nothing. Finally they were taken to a hut, which was their living quarters, and two hundred and fifty persons were accommodated in that. They were to sleep on planks of wood covered by straw, and provided with two sack blankets, to remind them of the living conditions of the cattle as if. That was the process of dehumanization suffered by individuals like Primo Levi. Communication was a big problem and could lead to life and death situations. Primo Devi writes, “The confusion of languages is a fundamental component of the manner of living here: one is surrounded by a perpetual Babel, in which everyone shouts orders and threats in languages never heard before, and woe betide whoever fails to grasp the meaning” (28) That was the height of the dehumanization process, where each breath of the prisoner was suspect in the eyes of those who were guarding them. About treatment of the Jewish inmates he writes, “some of them beat us from pure bestiality and violence, but others beat us when we are under a load almost lovingly...as cart-drivers do with willing horses” (58). The time-table for the prisoners within the camp-dehumanization process followed consistently The knowledge of German was of some advantage within the camp, the language the guards spoke for communication between themselves. No prisoner was expected to go near the barbed wire. Limited items of personal utility were issued to the prisoners, like a bowl and the spoon. Harsh discipline was enforced at every step to break down the morale of the prisoners. They worked in the hot sun and the assignments were tough like digging trenches, carrying and moving heavy objects and any other work as per the orders of the guards. Those who failed to complete the allotted work were severely punished, mostly they faced death. This extreme threat was to break down the spirit of the prisoners and as the part of the dehumanization process. In the camp life no humanity existed; to preserve sanity was the issue. In that precarious stage of life, it was but natural for men like Levi to recollect, how glorious the life before they were herded into the camp. He lamented about the present condition, “Today the only thing left of the life of those days is what one needs to suffer hunger and cold; I am not even alive enough to know how to kill myself.”(138) After spending about nine months in the camp, he had reached the breaking point, humanity was just the past glory of life and the process of dehumanization had totally wrecked his personality. Works Cited Levi, Prime. Survival In Auschwitz, Classic House Books, 2008 Read More