Final Exam 2019

The Cosmic Salon:

 Survival in Auschwitz, pp.9-38

  

Preface

 

At the outset Primo tells us that he writes these memoirs for two basic reasons:

  • First, to warn us of the danger that we face when a conception of the world is carried to its logical conclusion. What conception of the world does he mean?
  • Second, he describes the urge to tell the truth as ‘an immediate and violent need’ felt by every prisoner in the Lager

Read out loud the poem he has written "If This Is A Man..." What is Levi's point?

The Nazi Psychological Assault:

1. “The Journey

 
Discussion Questions:

p. 13    What was the nature of Levi's brief experience as a partisan?

p. 13    Why did he identify himself during his interrogation as a Jew and not as member  of the political resistance?

p. 15    What made the day before departure from the detention camp surreal?

p. 16    What does Levi find absurd about the Germans' thinking and methods?

p. 18    Describe the impact of the conditions of the boxcar on the character of the prisoners. How quickly are the prisoners dehumanized?

p. 19   What did Levi say to the woman who sat with him throughout the journey on the night before they arrived at Auschwitz?

p. 19    What made the selections on the platform ‘dreamlike’?  How many of the Italian Jews survive their first night in Auschwitz?

p. 20    Describe the ‘Canada’ detachment of prisoners who welcomed the prisoners.

 

On the Bottom

 

p. 23   List the orders given to the prisoners upon arrival at the disinfection center. What rules must theu follow? What happens to their shoes? What happens to their clothes? What happens to their hair? Describe what happens in the shower room.

p. 27   What does Levi find at ‘the bottom’? What psychological challenge will survival 

            require to be overcome?

p. 27   Explain the double sense of the term “extermination campWhat are the key   

           ingredients of the Nazi psychological assault on the prisoners?

p. 28   What is Levi’s number? Why are the prisoners numbered? How can the history of the camp be explained in numbers? Why are those with high numbers regarded with ridicule?

p. 29   When Primo reaches for an icicle, it is knocked from his hand by a kapo. When he asks, “Why?”, he is told, “There is no why here.” What does that mean?

p. 30   What is the purpose of the prison band and the ParadeWhy are the prisoners forced to march in this manner? What is its purpose? (The Tune ‘Rosamunda')

 

YET p. 31    How does Primo describe Schlome's face, a face he never saw again?

Paragraph: Explain the double sense of the term “extermination campWhat are the key ingredients of the Nazi psychological assault on the prisoners?

p. 32    Describe the topography of the Auschwitz real estate market.

p. 33.   Describe the hierarchy of Auschwitz’s class system.

p. 33    What is the basic rule about all possessions at Auschwitz? 

p. 34    What are the rules at Auschwitz designed to do?

p. 35    How do you find the right job at the Buna Works?

p. 37    How does the body rapidly change in this environment?