Jouranl 5

Our Nights
In chapter five, Primo Levi describes the feelings and emotions he had after coming back from restful period. In my opinion, Primo Levi’s experience in Ka-Be might have been emotionally discouraging, because after he had tasted the tenderness of restful periods and free from the worries of being selected, it would be hard to adapt again to the “hell-like” situations outside the Ka-Be. I had similar experience with Primo Levi during my mission trip. For me, Habitat Mission trip not only provided me with an opportunity to serve others, but also a time for me to enjoy personally. The mission trip was relaxing, without the pressure of school works and parents. However, , the first week of my school after returning from the trip went horrible, it was so hard for me to re-adjust to the school environments surrounded by paperwork and the pressure of catching the work up was terrible. For these kinds of reasons, I bet the experience in Ka-Be might have not been so helpful emotional wise, however, in physical sense, it might have been a great rest for his body.
In this chapter, Primo Levi continually mentions how hard the life is in the concentration camps without free will of actions. However, Primo Levi introduces Alberto again in this chapter. Alberto was kind of figure who had a lot of capabilities, along with that, popularity followed. He was a kind of figure who was welcomed even by the German soldiers. This suggested me that in life, acquiring witty and useful capabilities are essentials in life in order to adapt into any kind of environment. This lesson connects with me a lot, especially as the days for me to go to college draws nearer. Although I am attending international school, United States is fairly unfamiliar environment for me, so I need certain capabilities to grab people’s attention and adapt well to the unfamiliar environment, as Alberto did. Thus, I think growing special capabilities to catch people’s attention and interest is a thing for me to consider as it is useful in helping me to adjust into certain environments.

Jouranl 4

Ka-Be
This chapter evoked strong emotional appeal to me, because I realized how prisoners in the camps are thankful to even the smallest thing in their lives after they were adapted to the hazardous way of life. After my mission trip, I had somewhat similar experience as prisoners that I felt even stronger sympathy toward them. During my mission trip that lasted for nine long days, I went to Thailand with my mindset fixed to serving other people who are under severe poverty. However, as the nine days dragged on, I increasingly missed my home, especially my computers. Before I went to the mission trip, using computer was a norm in my life that I did not appreciate the usefulness of the computers, however, when I couldn’t use the computers, I realized how essential they were in my life. Later, when I returned from the trip, one of the first things I appreciated was the things that I saw everyday; family, house environment, bed, and computers. Similarly, prisoners in the concentration camps had lost all their property and life routine that when they received the smallest retreat of having physical comfort, they appreciated it in full extend. Like this, we tend to be ignorant about the things that we are so used to.
The harsh environment caused prisoners to have great attachment on the mundane schedules they were used to. “We had never seen its boundaries, but we feel all around us the evil presence of the barbed wire that separates us from the world (42). This quote suggests that prisoners in the concentration camps felt like they were the birds in the cages that their liberty to pursue their personal interest had been trapped. Not being able to do what they have always done painful, because it is always hard to be revolutionary and adapt to new things. Thus, the damage that the concentration camp gave to the prisoners was both emotional and physical factors.

Jouranl 3

Initiation
Chapter three reminded me of what my parents used to say when I was young, “Keep yourself clean wherever you go.” And I realized how there could be various meanings even in a simple statement as above. Before I read this chapter, I always thought of this statement simply as a way my parents used to keep me clean. However, after I finished reading chapter three, I realized everything can be viewed critically. In other words, I realized that in this chapter, washing not only represented the physical cleanness, but it also may represent other things, such as dignity and propriety.
Primo Levi, in this chapter, described the mental state of the prisoners. All the prisoners in the camps were in constant tensions. The tension rooted both from emotional and physical factors. Emotionally, they were always worried about their lives because anyone could be put into gas chambers in any day. Additionally, everyday work gave them a physical pain. Not only that, but they were also treated badly that they weren’t called by their names; rather, they were given numbers. Furthermore, the unsanitary environment was notorious that washing became a futile job for prisoners because it would only take energy for prisoners. Primo Levi’s position toward washing was also same, he believed washing oneself was just a waste of energy because they would eventually get dirty by the next day, thus, and there was no point in washing himself up. However, Steinlauf washed himself everyday. Steinlauf’s view was “not because the regulation states it, but for dignify and propriety.”
His action, in fact, suggested that he will not abide by rules of Nazi and he will stand up against them. In other words, the physical part of keeping sanitary lost its values, but the moral value still held its values. Primo Levi was so concentrated on his physical part that he did not understand why he had to wash himself if he were to get dirty again. But later, after he looked himself back, realized it symbolized sense of pride and everything. After reading this chapter, I became more critical in viewing things, even the simplest thing that I do everyday, like washing could mean a lot.

Jouranl 2

This chapter discusses how humans tend to adapt to certain environment for their survivals. Early in the chapter, Primo Levi described the cruel conditions that Jews had to confront in concentration camps. As the title, “on the bottom” suggests, the “bottom” in this chapter symbolizes the desperate situation that Jews had to undergo in concentration camps. For instance, the Jews were not given fresh water to drink, rather, they were only given dirty water with which they were only able to run the water in their mouth to satisfy the gist of thirst they experienced. Daily routine was a pain for the prisoners, because the fact that they lacked the supply of fresh water was like a torture for them. Furthermore, I think the word “bottom,” contains another meaning that Primo Levi tried to describe. The “bottom” symbolizes to the treacherous actions that prisoners did for their own survival.
In the book, many prisoners in the camps were persecuted mainly from the belief that they are Jews; however, some of the Jews were treacherous enough that when it came to the matter of survival, they betrayed their beliefs and persecuted their own fellow believers. The populations varied in the camps, people were concentrated in camps from many different boundaries that they came from different parts of Europe and the people who were loyal to the Germans were awarded to certain positions that they would not have to work as the others do. However, the consequence for that was that they had to be harsh to other prisoners in order to keep their position. In order to remain in their status, they had to treat their fellow believers as harshly as Nazis treated them.
Although, it is emotionally appealing to criticize the people who betrayed their belief and fellowmen for their own survivals, but in my opinion, it is not our option to criticize them, rather, we have to protect them and comfort them with our concerns because we had never been to those desperate situations as they were in.

Journal # 1

During the history of World War two, there had been many incidences of atrocities, but the first chapter of the Survival in the Auschwitz, the journey, introduces the severe treatment of the Jews by Nazi in Europe. The author of the book, Primo Levi was Italian citizen of Jewish race, in which, he was also captured and set into concentration camps. There, he saw how systematic the Nazis were in forcing the Jews as laborers and slaughtering them whenever they were of no use.
The chapter one of the book vividly described how strong the racist idea Nazi people had toward the Jews. To Nazi people’s eyes, Jews were inferior, in that they should be treated with the lowest treatment possible. Such attitude is portrayed through every aspect of how they treated Jews. For instance, the people who were captured were stripped of everything, from their dignity, respect, names, and even modest clothes. In the chapter, Primo Levi describes how they were being stripped naked and were forced to take a shower in a bunch of other Jewish people. With this act, even their slightest respect and dignity remained in their hearts had been vanished, and the captives had only two choices to make in the concentration camps. Either they had to die, or to live by working under Nazi people. However, they had constant fear of going through “Selections” which separated. The German SS solders would separate those who were capable of work from those who were incapable. Those who seemed incapable of working were to be sent to the gas chambers to breathe in harmful gas until they could no longer breathe.
The detailed illustration of Primo Levi made me frown as I read the book, because of the cruelty that Germans enacted toward the Jews. The severe cruelty raised questions whether the Germans soldiers were doing it out of joy or were doing it only to secure their own lives from the threat of high officials. Even if German SS soldiers were “forced” to kill those mass Jewish people in gas chamber due to the threat of the high officials, it seems to go against the moral and ethical codes. Thus, I believe that even the only “excuse” of the German SS soldiers that they were forced to do it under the pressure of high officials; nothing could justify the cruelty they demonstrated toward the Jews. In other words, I could accept no word that could justify their acts of massacring Jews.

Auschwitz: Concentration camps

The movie evoked strong emotion in regarding my position toward the concentration camps. Originally, my perception of the concentration camps was simply an “oppressive” environment where many Jews and minority groups were massacred. However, as I watched the video, I trembled with horror as I realized how terrible the situations were in the camps, and my whole concept of concentration camps in my head was rewritten. The scene that shocked me the most was when numerous corpses were lying on the ground, a crane came up to “wipe out” the entire corpses into one big ditch. During the process, the bodies of the corpse were deteriorated to the point that I could not even tell whether it was a human body or not. During my career as a student, I concentrated in learning more about the political or government system in the era of massacres. For instance, as a student, I was always more interested in learning the policies of Hitler and how Nazi organizations have come to be a dominant political groups, because those are the facts that were necessary to gain credit in writing essays in the classes such as history and geography; However, I was more reluctant to look for my own benefit of how the people in the concentration camps lived because at that time, I thought that “chunk” of information is unnecessary as they are irrelevant to the grades that I receive. However, after the video, I learned some valuable lesson that there are sometimes cases that I need to pay more attention to other things rather than the grades that I receive in the class. I valued my grades in school over the stories of millions and millions people’s lives. From now on, I will remember the tragic event that had happen in Auschwitz, and I will do my best to evoke emotional appeals to people to prevent any similar situations in the future if there would be any.

 Choose a representative passage from this novel that holds particular significence to you. Type it in and comment on its significance.

On page 239“Now new hopes, soaring like the pinnacle of their Sawidome, stir them toward new horizons both spiritual and secular, though their means of achieving their secular goals are at present still pitifully inadequate.”This passage held particular significance to me because I learned many valuable lessons from reading this book. First, I learned that we should never lose our hope even in desperate situations; rather, we should strive to achieve what we have aimed for. Initially, the book described the way how Sawi people lived. The book describes how it was their cultural norm to practice cannibalism and the treachery was rewarded in this society. The first thought that evoked from reading the book was that they could never accept the new “reform” movements, rather, they would only continue their traditional way of living. Additionally, they lacked what we viewed as “essentials” in life, such as stable houses, clothes, and stable way of producing food. However, Don Richardson’s continual efforts succeded in accomplishing the “miracle” within the Sawi society. The construction of such a magnificent conference building only to serve God in Sawi society means a lot to the society. It is a “Great Leap Forward” for the Sawi who had transformed from the “uncivilized” to the people who tend to accept the changes that gives greater potential for them to be civilized and develop in fast pace. However, behind all these accomplishments, there were consistent effort of Don Richardson who literally “translated” all the vocabulary that might describe our “God”. In the process, he attempted to make connection with their culture, in which, he observed their ritual practices carefully and later applied their kind of understanding to certain culture into describing God. Although, Don Richardson had a lot of conflicts in going through all this, such as going on a verge of war between the tribes, however, his consistent preaching and continual of applying the God into the culture of Sawi enabled them to accept more of the lifestyle that Tuan is offerings. And they had demonstrated such an acceptance as they had built the building.