That was the number tattooed on Primo Levi's left arm when he was processed into Auschwitz in February 1944. The numbers were assigned in sequence, so by the time Levi arrived in Auschwitz there were few with tattoos of only five digits. In that sense - the sense of being a relatively late arrival - Levi was fortunate. And because Levi, through chance and no doubt through a certain spunk, was able to survive the next year (one of only three who eventually returned home out of 650 in his consignment of Italian Jews), the world is fortunate. Because his memoir of his year at Auschwitz is probably the most significant first-person account of that vile episode of human history.
As many have noted, what distinguishes Levi's account is his restraint, his near superhuman effort to confine his memoir to the perspective of a witness. Although he lapses occasionally, Levi tried to avoid "the lamenting tones of the victim [as well as] the irate voice of someone who seeks revenge." Thus, his memoir has a documentary objectivity that makes it even more chilling.
This particular edition actually contains two of Levi's memoirs. The first, IF THIS IS A MAN, is the memoir described above - the account of his year at Auschwitz, the most harrowing period (ironically) being the post-apocalyptic ten days between the flight of the Nazis and the arrival of the Red Army. (The only prisoners the Nazis left in the camp were those too sick to be marched westwards, towards Germany. Levi, suffering from an attack of scarlet fever, was among the ill left behind. During those ten days, the percentage of corpses on the bunks inside some of the huts rose to fifty percent. Outside the huts, "the number of ravens had increased considerably and everybody knew why.") The second memoir, THE TRUCE, is Levi's account of the nine months between liberation by the Red Army and his arrival home, at last, in Turin, Italy. It is a fascinating and instructive kaleidoscopic picture of the displaced peoples throughout Eastern Europe in the months immediately following the collapse of Nazi Germany. Although not quite the essential document that IF THIS IS A MAN is, it too is well worth reading. This edition also contains, as an afterword, fifteen pages in which Levi addresses some of the questions frequently asked him, such as "Have you forgiven them [the Germans?]?" and "How can the Nazis' fanatical hatred of the Jews be explained?".
For those who don't know, the title of the first memoir, the classic one, comes from a poem Levi wrote, also entitled "If This Is a Man". It includes these lines:
Consider if this is a man
Who works in the mud
Who does not know peace
Who fights for a scrap of bread
Who dies because of a yes or no.
Those five lines sum up this remarkable book, one that should be read by everyone who considers himself civilized.
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Great book, terrible binding!
The book is excellent but the binding on the Abacus published book is absolutely terrible. I'm on page 85 and the pages are literally falling out of the book. Buy this book from a different publisher.
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