Book · 1959 · Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
Survival in Auschwitz
The Nazi Assault on Humanity
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The Italian writer Primo Levi has a wonderful book a wonderful terrible book called Survival in Auschwitz, where he talks about being in Auschwitz, and you see these extremes of humanity.
Jamie Metzl · The Jordan Harbinger Show · Jun 2026 Listen at 34:57 The best things said about it
There's one place, I think in Survival in Auschwitz, where Primo Levi talks about a bricklayer that the Nazis asked him to build a wall and he couldn't persuade himself to build it badly.
David Wolpe Conversations with Tyler · Feb 2017 Why people recommend it
Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi is a harrowing autobiographical account of the author's imprisonment in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust, detailing the profound degradation and resilience of the human spirit under unimaginable totalitarian cruelty. On The Jordan Harbinger Show, Jamie Metzl brought up the Italian writer's terrible yet wonderful book to illustrate the extreme behaviors of humanity that emerge during catastrophic historical epochs. Metzl emphasized how the text reveals the stark contrasts in human nature when individuals are subjected to absolute institutionalized pressure and terror. Additionally, on Conversations with Tyler, David Wolpe referenced Levi's work to highlight the author's meticulous precision and moral integrity. Wolpe specifically recounted a passage where Levi described a bricklayer imprisoned by the Nazis who stubbornly refused to build a bad wall despite the perilous circumstances, demonstrating an unyielding commitment to professional and personal dignity in the face of systemic destruction. Through these discussions, commentators underline the book's vital role in preserving historical memory and bearing witness to the darkest chapters of twentieth-century history while simultaneously exposing the enduring capacity for moral resistance within ordinary individuals caught in the machinery of genocide and mass oppression across Europe.
Every mention
David Wolpe There's one place, I think in Survival in Auschwitz, where Primo Levi talks about a bricklayer that the Naz… 1
“There's one place, I think in Survival in Auschwitz, where Primo Levi talks about a bricklayer that the Nazis asked him to build a wall and he couldn't persuade himself to build it badly.”
Jamie Metzl The Italian writer Primo Levi has a wonderful book a wonderful terrible book called Survival in Auschwitz,… 1
“The Italian writer Primo Levi has a wonderful book a wonderful terrible book called Survival in Auschwitz, where he talks about being in Auschwitz, and you see these extremes of humanity.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“i'll mention in passing they have different titles sometimes in america um the first if this is a man is also called in america survival in auschwitz”