Journal 03: Initiation

With due apologies to President Bush, is it not hillarious to see how a man can be likened to a Chimpazee? Imagine yourself dwelling on trees, prancing and leaping around as uncivilized and uncouth apes? Place yourself in a scenario where health and hygiene shall be totally insignificant, and you shall be the God of messiness in the Human pantheon. Let us now deviate from this comic mood, to delve into the depths of what characterizes us as humans, and what separates us from our primitive ancestors.
The evolution of Man from apes has been a transition, which has been physical, emotional as well as, spiritual. From being an arboreal resident, Man descended to Earth, learning to crawl on four feet and then walk on two. He has learned to walk erect, clean himself and think for himself. Man has walked down time, quelling the barbaric nature od his predecessors, developing a sense of compassion and love. After ages of fighting as uncivilized tribes, Man sought to establish peace and accept unity, by seeking solace in one force, God. Even though the processs has been gradual and slow, Man has evolved from fundamental levels to assume the form he exists in today. Forgetting the essence of this advent of civilization is completely detrimental to who you are as a human. This leads me to my quote, "We must walk erect, without dragging our feet, not in homage to Prussian discipline but to remain alive, not begin to die."
This statement reveals the intrinsic nature of human existence. By taking a bath, or washing your hands before eating, you are not only doing yourself a favour, but retaining the attributes that make you human. Not only this, by bowing down to some one else's dictates and ideas, you are annihilating the spark of struggle that has been a key to our existence. Even in the dire circumstances at Auschwitz, this was the key to survival : to be human, even when every one around you was inhuman !

Journal 02: On the Bottom...

"Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his clothes, in short, of everything he possesses: he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs, forgetful of dignity and restraint, for he who loses all often easily loses himself. He will be a man whose life and death can be lightly decided with no sense of human affinity, in the most fortunate of cases, on the basis of a pure judgement of utility. It is in this way that one can understand the double sense of the term "extermination camp", and it is now clear what we seek to express by the phrase "to lie on the bottom"



Ode to a Häftling
Imprisoned and shackled, I stand today,
For a faith I reckoned with, such a grave price to pay,
Deprived of humanity, I am neither man nor beast,
But a Jew, on which greed and ambition shall feast
Reduced to a number, devoid of identity,
I know not who I am or what I may be.
The people I called my own,
Are rendered meek, with none to weep or moan.
Parched and dry, in body and soul,
In my mind, lies no aspiration or goal.
Mocked I am, I know not why
Neither the will to live, nor the strength to die.
Why doth liberty hide from me,
And redeem me from this captivity?
Blood oozes out, but not by mortal gashes to me,
My mind bleeds, yearning to be set free…
Ah! What is that sound piercing my ear,
Companion to sorrow and fear….
What is that descending down the stars, in the night sky?
An aura, gleaming, blinding my eye,
A light, gold and pure, smiling, beckoning me,
I realize I am now free,
The divine summon hath arrived,
The moment, for which I had strived.
I now walk towards my guardian,
In search of my destination,
Beyond this Earth and cosmos,
Into a world that shines and glows,
Without any prejudice or hollow views,
Where I am me, not a Häftling or Jew…

Journal 01 : The Journey

The first chapter of the novel, as the name implies, marks the beginning of a journey where humanity will eventually fade into oblivion, and the existence of numerous Jews shall be annihilated completely.
The chapter delves into how the author and his companions are arrested by the Fascist militia, and how their journey begins after their deportation to Auschwitz in Germany. A key idea revealed in the first paragraph is how racism had compelled the author, Primo Levi to lead a life of delirium, dwelling in hallucinations of a life with "sincere male and bloodless female friendships." The thought of seeking solace in such utopic ideas clearly indicates how prevalent trends in society were a complete betrayal for him. Levi further elaborates on this notion by talking of a world inhabited by "civilized cartesian phantoms" - alluding to the philosophy of French philosopher, René Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes' Cogito Ergo Sum (I Think, therefore I am), underlines the essence of existence. Ironically, as the storyline progresses, their thoughts and subsequently, their existence is obliterated, both, physically and emotionally.
A prominent theme of the first chapter is the idea of punishment without having committed any wrongdoing or crime. Primo Levi elucidates this by comparing the state of the Jews going to Auschwitz to a criminal, who has been sentenced to death, and how the death penalty reveals to him that "all passions and anger have died down," and the death sentence, is merely a means of enforcing justice, and for the welfare of society. It therefore provides a sense of acceptance and signifies a sense of "spiritual comfort." However, for Levi and his fellow companions, this was futile since they had not done anything wrong to be punished for.
The style of writing is extremely vivid, with attention to fine details and exemplary use of imagery and symbols. The sentence, “And night came, and it was such a night that one knew that human eyes would not witness it and survive,” elevates the intensity of the poignancy and the trauma of the Jews. Levi also tries to induce a train of thought in the readers’ minds by asking questions seen in the following section from the chapter, “Would you not do the same? If you and your child were going to be killed tomorrow, would you not give him to eat today?” Through these questions, Levi establishes personal connections between the story and the reader. Even though today, the suffering is unimaginable for us, these questions evoke a strong feeling of sympathy and pain in the reader.
Primo Levi also makes fantastic use of symbols. By comparing dawn to a betrayer, he shows how their life was in fact a race against time. In the concluding paragraph alluding to Greek mythology, he compares the German soldier in their lorry to Charon, the ferryman of Hades who ferried dead bodies across the river Styx. Thus, Primo Levi and his companions were being led to imminent doom. Levi plays close attention to details of language by incorporating elements of German, such as Wieviel Stuck, and geographical details, such as the names of various places they traveled through, thereby making the story more realistic and accurate.
The first chapter thus, sets the stage for the remaining story to unfurl. The journey into torture and angst had just begun….

Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'

Auschwitz…The very utterance of this word creates a sense of fear in my mind. Imagine being tortured to death in a concentration camp, or being wrenched apart from you beloved ones! The pain and anguish in Auschwitz is beyond one’s imagination. However, the bitter truth is that people did survive this tribulation, by maintaining their determination and zeal to survive. The movie shows glimpses of life in that “Factory of Death”, with experiences being narrated by the survivors of this painful ordeal. These survivors yearned, not only for food but also, human love, as one of them clearly says, “We were not only starved for food, but also, starved for human kindness.” How could mankind be reduced to such a drastic state of moral chaos, when the value of emotions, values and ethics was completely obliterated? Children were used as “guinea pigs”, where various laboratory experimental procedures were investigated on them, annihilating the innocence and bliss of childhood. Women were scorched to death in gas chambers, while men who were not, toiled their way to death. “Walking through this nightmare…”Do you think any of us would have the fortitude to deal with such a morbid environment around ourselves or with the threat of death constantly pursuing us? The movie successfully portrays the poignancy and the trauma of the victims of Auschwitz, and evokes a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow in the viewer’s mind. Devoid of any propaganda or bias, the movie is an honest depiction of the true circumstances at Auschwitz, when Germany, under Hitler embarked on the largest mass murder in the history of mankind. This entire struggle to live can be summarized in a quote from the movie, “In a semi conscious state of mind, I would tell myself, and “I need to survive.”” Herein lies the essence of survival which is an accomplishment of only those, with true strength and purity in their minds…