Perspective

The author of The Drowned and the Saved, Primo Levi is an Italian-born Jew, a trained chemist, and survivor of a year at Auschwitz. He has already published two works about the Holocaust, Survival in Auschwitz and The Reawakening, along with other works of history, poetry, and fiction. This volume is an attempt at defeating the cynical Nazi certitude that the Holocaust will be seen as a hoax or propaganda because it is too massive to be believed. He writes on behalf of those who do not survive as one who has come close to being drowned but has been saved. He deals with themes that often come up when survivors tell their story, breaking down stereotypes and explaining the rationale of the SS guardians. A sampling of letters from Germans who read Survival in Auschwitz provides valuable perspective.

With each passing generation, interest in the Holocaust diminishes...