Once again, we’re faced with a book telling a story we can’t fully understand or empathize with because we have never experienced anything even close to the suffering the author experienced. Still, I think it’s incredible that survivors of the holocaust were willing to write down their stories so we may learn and fight for justice to not be compromised in such a way again. Throughout Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, If This is a Man, a recurring pattern kept appearing to me: the sanctity of life and man’s identity. As Steinlauf told Levi in the washroom one day, the officials over the prisoners in the camp were tasked with turning these men into beasts who would obey orders and could be useful for the greater Nazi cause (Levi 39). Levi and his fellow Jews and prisoners have to constantly fight to not fall into this dehumanizing narrative. They consciously tell their stories to one another and think of home whenever they are able. I think this is a call for us to intentionally consider one another as Image-Bearers of God: Imago Dei. When we view others as God’s creation, bearing His image, we are drawn to respect them all the more because we recognize their immeasurable value. Even “quiet” racism, which may be kept within one’s thoughts, can be increasingly damaging for how that person views anyone who is different than himself or herself. This prevents that person from sincerely loving others and being compassionate to his or her fellow man. We must see the immeasurable value in others to love them as Christ has loved us; for believers, loving and respecting our neighbor is a command, regardless of how different we may be from one another. These were just some of my thoughts I had while reading Levi’s book this weekend, but I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s discussion in class tomorrow morning.
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