Primo Levi was born in 1919 in Turin, Italy to an Italian Jewish family. Despite racial discrimination he graduated from Turin University as a physicist and chemist. Primo lived his life as a strong anti-Fascist and in 1943 joined a group who set out to fight the remaining Italian and German Fascist in the Italian Alps. After being capture by a group of the fascist militia, Primo was discovered to be Jewish and was sent to Auschwitz along with 650 other Italian Jews. He spent 11 months in Auschwitz and was saved for the most part because of his background in chemistry. The Germans used him as a chemist in a laboratory which in turn saved him from the physical labor other holocaust victims had to go through. In the last few weeks of his internment he became seriously ill which worked towards his benefit because he was left in the hospital when the other inmates were forced to leave on a “death march.” On January 27, 1945, just days after the last inmates departed from the camp, the Russian army liberated Primo and a few other remaining prisoners. After recuperating, he journeyed through Poland, Austria, Romania, Hungary, and Germany finally making it back to Turin in October 19, 1945. After returning to Turin, Primo worked as a chemist and began publishing two memoirs of his experiences in Auschwitz. He published the first memoir “If This Is a Man” in 1947 and the second “The Truce” in 1963. Since then Primo has written many other books on the holocaust and has visited over 130 high schools to discuss his experiences at Auschwitz. Levi has written many books since his two memoirs, one that even centers on his view of the Germans. In his book “The Drowned and the Saved”he expresses that although he did not hate the German people, he had not forgiven them. Levi died on April 11, 1987 after falling three stories. Many have debated whether or not he had commited suicide or if it was just an accident.

A picture of Primo in old age