Editorial notes:
This is Shai’s entry into the domain of digital publishing as he contributes an article in the Gaia Online Writers Forum. Shai was not only a prolific writer but also an avid reader and it is thus fitting that his first digital post is a book review, the first of 68 book reviews written between October 2004 and March 2016 (only three of which were published in the Gaia Online Writers Forum).
I read The Drowned and the Saved for a Primo Levi essay I completed last night. I read this book, along with The Periodic Table and The Search for Roots. Truth is, I didn’t really read ‘The Search for Roots’, just flipped through the bits I needed. It’s a strange book- it’s basically some recommended reading by Primo Levi, with introductions. I suppose what a person reads and thinks is important that others should read gives an insight into their character, and so I found it challenging trying to see what I could read into that particular work.
The book is a collection of essays written by the author over a number of years. As is expected, the author takes a scientific approach as he tries to explain and make understood the Holocaust. His methodology is a significant factor in the book, as can be seen by the first chapter, in which he explains why memory cannot be trusted and that therefore he has tried not to make use of his own experiences in the Germans Lager unless he can verify them by other means.
Levi’s perspective on the camps is brutally honest and disturbing. Of particular interest is his discussion on Grey Zones- morally ambiguous areas that seemed to cover most aspects of the camp. He discusses the behaviour towards newcomers to the camp, as well as that of the Kapos, and while explaining why they behave that way, he seeks to neither excuse them, nor label them guilty.
Some other issues he deals with include the phenomenon of the survivors’ shame, and the reaction of Germans to his writings.
A point I thought was interesting was that he said that although the survivors may offer perspective on the events of the Holocaust, they should never be considered to be the ideal or the best witnesses.
I must repeat- we the survivors, are not the true witnesses. This is an uncomfortable notion, of which I have become conscious little by little, reading memoirs of others and reading mine at a distance of years. We survivors are not only exiguous but also an anomalous minority: we are those who by their prevarications or abilities or good luck did not touch bottom. Those who did so, those who saw the Gorgon, have not returned to tell about it or have returned mute, but they are the… submerged, the complete witnesses… (p63-4)
Comments: I found Levi’s approach very satisfying and honest. Reading his writing has contrasted well with the Elie Wiesel books that I’ve also been reading this year. Much more accessible than his ‘Periodic Table’ I felt.
