17. The Story of Ten Days

“Late that night the Greek doctor returned with a rucksack on his shoulders and a woolen hood. He threw a French novel on my bed. ‘Keep it, read it, Italian. You can give it back to me when we meet again.’ Even today I hate him for those words. He knew that we were doomed.” (pg. 155)

At this time, the camps are being evacuated, and Primo Levi and all of the other sick are left behind. Primo Levi is well aware that he is either going to die or be rescued, one of the two extremes. Primo Levi is probably scared to death at this moment in his life, for he really has no idea what will happen once the camp is evacuated. At least when he was in the camp he knew the pattern of the German’s day, and could at least be prepared to die. But at this time, he had a little hope and a little fear. This doctor comes into his room and gives him a completely useless book, probably just because he doesn’t want to carry it. Yet this Greek doctor probably feels that he was doing a good deed by giving Primo Levi something to do while he was starving to death.

“I judged his self-sacrifice by the tiredness which I would have had to overcome in myself to do what he had done.” (pg.167)

After reading this passage, I was extremely impressed with Levi, Charles, and Arthur. Surprisingly, after the German SS men had left, they took care of the patients with typhus in their room. I was definitely astonishedy by what they have done because they could have chosen a better way to just leave them and do less work but they did not chose to do so. I was stunned to see that even in situation like this, they sacrificed themselves to take care of their mates. Even until the end, they did not forget how much it is important to care about others in any circumstances, even through fearful and dreadful situations. They found potato to make soup for them, cleaned their mess when they throw up, encouraged them with words of comfort and inspiration by taking care of them. I personally thought that they survived in Auschwitz not only physically but because of their character with strong passion and care. Even through difficult circumstances and hardships, they managed to help others. It once again taught me a life lesson. When facing a hardship or a difficult situation, panicking and putting yourself down is definitely not a best thing to do. Asking God for help, asking teachers, friends for help is the BEST thing. They are always there for a reason, and putting yourself down without even giving it a try is not right.

The story of ten days is a very long chapter, and this story of ten days with his friend Aurthur and Charles is unbelievable. Despite the harsh environment and illness they had, they mentioned to survive until help came to them. They found food to sustain them from starving to death and they also found enough water that wasn't contaminated to quench their thirst. Also, the weak and the sick were left behind the camps, which meant that it was highly capable for him to catch contagious diseases from these sick men. Primo and his friends, however, managed to find enough food, water, and warmth to help each other survive until help came to them. This was maybe possible since they were so used to the harsh cnoditions, and the primitive way of surviving hunger and thirst.It was ironic how the people were filled with hope when they were being evacuated from the camps. The people who were wealthy enough to march, were hoping that they would find a new refuge much better than Auschwitz, and they thought that this would all end. This, however, was a march towards death, not towards a new start.