Where to begin with If This Is A Man? An autobiography - especially one with such heavy content - should not bear the shame of being belittled or having a side of it ignored. That being said, I don't have the room to tackle the entire story of Primo in one blog post. Instead, I'm going to focus on the one thing that truly struck me, and see where I can go from there. When finishing the last chapter, The Story of Ten Days, I read through January 18th relatively quickly, and then had to pause and reread a line. "The Germans were no longer there. The towers were empty."
What? What's stopping the prisoners from escaping?
These people literally go outside the fence for potatoes. They would go out, and then come back in.
It hit me by the time I reached January 24th. Primo begins the day's description with the word liberty, and I realized that there is more to imprisonment than a fence you can't cross. Primo reminds the reader of the fact that the prisoners felt like little more than cattle, and that it was extremely difficult to maintain one's sense of morality when confronted with the extreme trauma. The Germans had not only stripped away things like rest and food, but something much deeper: safety. Every thing could be a trap. Even the moments where the prisoners are supposedly at rest could have something sinister lurking. These prisoners were no longer physically restrained, but mentally withheld from escape. Isn't this what we as humans do with our sin? I would argue that the majority of the time, there is not an outside force causing us to stay in shame regarding our sin. We see the open arms of our gracious God and we still feel trapped in our wicked ways. What a glorious message to hear, though; there is nothing stopping you from freedom except yourself.
annakate + drew
What? What's stopping the prisoners from escaping?
These people literally go outside the fence for potatoes. They would go out, and then come back in.
It hit me by the time I reached January 24th. Primo begins the day's description with the word liberty, and I realized that there is more to imprisonment than a fence you can't cross. Primo reminds the reader of the fact that the prisoners felt like little more than cattle, and that it was extremely difficult to maintain one's sense of morality when confronted with the extreme trauma. The Germans had not only stripped away things like rest and food, but something much deeper: safety. Every thing could be a trap. Even the moments where the prisoners are supposedly at rest could have something sinister lurking. These prisoners were no longer physically restrained, but mentally withheld from escape. Isn't this what we as humans do with our sin? I would argue that the majority of the time, there is not an outside force causing us to stay in shame regarding our sin. We see the open arms of our gracious God and we still feel trapped in our wicked ways. What a glorious message to hear, though; there is nothing stopping you from freedom except yourself.
annakate + drew
Comments