Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi\'s Most Important
In Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi's most important observation was that staying alive depended not only on skill and cunning but also a large measure of good luck. In his case, one example of good fortune was being born in Italy, where the Jews were not deported until after the German occupation in 1943. Whatever the faults of the fascist Mussolini regime—and they were many—it refused to cooperate with the deportation of the Jews from any of its territory even though it deprived them of many basic civil rights. Had Levi lived in Germany, Holland, occupied Poland or the Baltic States his chances of survival would have been far lower. He was also fortunate in having a basic knowledge of chemistry that the Germans found useful, since the I.G. Farben Company controlled Auschwitz III (Monowitz) and required chemists and technicians for its laboratories. This allowed him access to extra food, a work environment without beatings and torture, and no heavy physical labor that would have drained his strength. As Levi noted, prisoners who failed to find some niche like this in Auschwitz would only survive for two or three months. At the very end, catching scarlet fever as the camp was being evacuated in 1945 was also a blessing in disguise since he was left behind instead of joining the forced-march back to Germany in winter conditions.