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CONCENTRATION CAMP BEHAVIOR.   Term Paper ID:25174 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines behavior, good & evil of Nazis & prisoners in Tadeusz Borowski's [This Way for the Gas, Ladies & Gentlemen], Primo Levi's [Survival in Auschwitz] & Tzvetan Todorov's [Facing the Extreme].... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines behavior, good & evil of Nazis & prisoners in Tadeusz Borowski's [This Way for the Gas, Ladies & Gentlemen], Primo Levi's [Survival in Auschwitz] & Tzvetan Todorov's [Facing the Extreme]. Paper Introduction: The Nazi concentration camps of World War II were, intentionally or not, a social experiment in which human beings were subjected to extraordinary circumstances. The behavior of camp inmates may reveal something about human nature, or what happens when a conventional way of life, with its attendant social institutions and habits, is impossible. To determine whether the camps do in fact provide insight into human nature, three books will be discussed and compared: “Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” by Tadeusz Borowski, and “Facing the Extreme” by Tzvetan Todorov. Primo Levi lived in Auschwitz for ten months during his youth; he recounts his personal experiences in the book “Survival in Auschwitz.” Beyond the motivation of describing the atrocities he wi Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Even Mengele was capable of giving individual patients the best of care, in between selections.[xxix] These people, who have been condemned as monsters, were also capableof humane behavior; Todorov takes this as evidence that most human beingsare capable of good as well as evil. A particularly unpleasant drawback of the operation is that the menalso have to throw live human beings onto trucks bound for the gaschambers. The Nazis created aworld in which it was utterly impossible to behave as though one were stillliving at a normal life; all superfluous elements of human life wereremoved, leaving only the barest routines for discovering what wasessential to survival. While he never experienced the campsfirsthand, he has compiled writings from numerous victims and survivors.These writings speak of a wide range of reactions to the camp experience,and are supplemented by Todorov's own intellectual analyses. "Can't you see how much easier life is becoming around here: no limit on packages, no more beatings? New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.Todorov, Tzvetan. ...Witek nevertheless refused to let fate get the better of him. These, the "drowned" in Levi's account, suggest that theconcept of good and evil coexisting in each individual must be reexaminedand modified. [xxvii] Ibid., 72. Holding a package would be a little like holding somebody's hand, you see."[xxi] Tadeusz himself, like the other inmates, clings to material objectsfor comfort. The latter twoare primarily interested in an emotional rendering of the moral challengesto which the camp prisoners were subjected. Facing the Extreme. Todetermine whether the camps do in fact provide insight into human nature,three books will be discussed and compared: "Survival in Auschwitz" byPrimo Levi, "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" by TadeuszBorowski, and "Facing the Extreme" by Tzvetan Todorov. Ivan, a friend ofTadeusz, confesses to a crime he did not commit, and takes a beating in theplace of an old Greek.[xxiv] Tadeusz continually gives part of his foodration to Becker, an old man bound for the ovens whom Tadeusz does not evenlike.[xxv] While taking a brief rest from working, Tadeusz spots an S.S.man approaching, and warns his fellow prisoners to get back to work beforethe S.S. [xxv] Ibid., 7 . Thus, it appearsmore likely that there is a continuum of human behaviors and responses tochanging environments. [xxix] Tzvetan Todorov, Facing the Extreme (New York: Henry Holt andCompany, 1996), 142. He describes particularly unlikely inconsistencies inthe behavior of Nazi personnel. [xxx] Ibid., 136. The Nazi concentration camps of World War II were, intentionally ornot, a social experiment in which human beings were subjected toextraordinary circumstances. [xx] Ibid., 148. It is not true that life in the camps obeyed only the law of the jungle. [vii] Ibid., 92. Citing the work of, among others, Leviand Solzhenitsyn, he suggests that, had the Nazis and their victimsexchanged places, each group would have behaved much as the other had intheir place.[xxx] Yet, Todorov does not present this as reason to excusethe Nazis; rather, he feels it necessary to draw a line between potentialto commit evil, and actual perpetration. In the best cases they possess a miserable half-ration of bread which, with painful effort, they have saved since the morning, in the senseless hope of a chance to make an advantageous bargain with some ingenuous person, unaware of the prices of the moment. Dr. Frank took special care of the Jews around him but never missed his turn on the incoming railway platform where the selections - that euphemism for on-the-spot death sentences - took place. men at thestation, as well as the "Canada" prisoners, are shocked by her "degenerate"behavior, but they have no problem watching a little girl with one leg,still alive and conscious, being roughly carted around and thrown on top ofa pile of corpses.[xix] The prisoners are obsessed with materials objects, in a way that goesbeyond the need for food. "I think that even if I was being led to the oven, I would still believe that something would surely happen along the way. Bearing false witness could become a virtuous act if it helped save human lives.[xxxvii] The shifting and inverting of conventional values into ones thatworked in the camp environment demonstrate Todorov's view that both goodand evil exist within every individual and society. Rather than aid the next person, one might instead further his decline if it meant relief from one's own suffering.[xxxiii] Yet, there are just as many instances of kindness and self-sacrificeon the part of the prisoners. All of us live on what they bring."[xxiii] Despite Borowski's obvious intention of showing the ruthlessness ofcamp life, he often portrays the prisoners in a different light. When Becker steals a bit of mush from Tadeusz,he is beaten and kicked until he spits blood.[xxvii] A single man istrampled to death by an angry mob, who prefer to carry out their ownjustice rather than hand the man over to the American soldiers who are incommand.[xxviii] How the prisoners managed to be so ruthless at times, and so kind atothers, is explained by Tzvetan Todorov as "fragmentation." In his book"Facing the Extreme," Todorov undertakes an analysis of moral life in thecamps, and concludes that evil coexists side by side with good, often inthe same individual. To accomplish this, theprisoners know that it is necessary to "organize" ways of getting food andgoods; to make friends with powerful people, camp officials and prisonersalike; to accept jobs that may require them to be cruel to other prisoners. [viii] Ibid., 87. We do not believe in the most obvious and facile deduction: that man is fundamentally brutal, egoistic and stupid in his conduct once every civilized institution is taken away, and that the Haftling is consequently nothing but a man without inhibitions. Echoing Borowski's stories, there were prisoners whobemoaned the less frequent transports of new prisoners, which meant lessfood and other items for them to acquire.[xxxi] One prisoner describes how,while a fellow inmate bled to death before his eyes, he continued to lickhis soup bowl and think only about his next meal.[xxxii] When the survival instinct totally dominates moral life, one loses a sense of compassion for the suffering of others and no longer offers the help one normally would. Borowskiand Levi touch only briefly on the moral life of the Nazis who are theirenemies, but Todorov recognizes that, in discussing human nature and thecamps, one must discuss all of the humans who were present in the society.When he points out the fragmentation that existed in the personalities ofthe Nazis, it is difficult to deny that human nature is extremely complexand almost impossible to pin down. According to him, the easiest way tobe destroyed by the camp was to follow its rules and regulations: to do asone was told, to eat only what one was supposed to eat.[vi] He juxtaposestwo groups of people, the "drowned" and the "saved," the first being thosewho did not adapt themselves to the conditions of the camp and submitted todeath. man notices that they've slacked off.[xxvi] There seems to be a code of conduct in place amidst all the thieveryand selfishness; certain acts against other prisoners are severely punishedby the prisoners themselves. [xxxii] Ibid. The behavior of camp inmates may revealsomething about human nature, or what happens when a conventional way oflife, with its attendant social institutions and habits, is impossible. [xxxiii] Ibid., 32. The men of "Canada," who greetthem at the train station, keep the truth from them as long as possible;this is described as "the only permissible form of charity."[xvii] Yet,some new arrivals seem to figure out that the trucks are waiting to takepeople away to the gas chambers; that the trucks are waiting for those whoare not strong enough to work. You even write letters home...One hears all kind of talk, and, dammit, they'll run out of people!" ...[Henri replies,] "Stop talking nonsense...They can't run out of people, or we'll starve to death in this blasted camp. Clearly, to actexclusively in a moral or altruistic way meant certain death in the harshenvironment of the camp. Among the prisoners, Todorov cites numerous examples of selfishnessand weary cynicism. [xxi] Ibid. One has to fight against the current; to battle every day and every hour against exhaustion, hunger, cold and the resulting inertia; to resist enemies and have no pity for rivals; to sharpen one's wits, to build up one's patience, strengthen one's will-power...Many were the ways devised and put into effect by us in order not to die; as many as there are different human characters...Survival without renunciation of any part of one's own moral world...was conceded only to very few superior individuals, made of the stuff of martyrs and saints.[vii] Levi's interpretation of what he saw at Auschwitz was that, underextremely challenging circumstances, the morals and social habits that onesnormally embraces begin to break down. Johann Schwarzhuber, who as Lagerfuhrer of Birkenau was directly responsible for the death of thousands, one day intervened to save the lives of sixty-eight boys from Terezin who had been marked for the gas chamber. [ix] Ibid., 44. [xxiv] Ibid., 79. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996.----------------------- [i] Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz (New York: Simon & Schuster,1996), 9. [iii] Ibid., 85. Although ethnicdifference was the basis for most of the inmates' incarceration, they didnot choose to perceive one another as equals, but maintained aconsciousness of each individual's ethnic or national origin. Todorov's book is more comprehensive than the other two in studyingthe moral universe of the camps. The book is aphilosophical text for the most part, while Borowski's stories and Levi'smemoirs tend to philosophy only informally and occasionally. Yet, there were those who declined to adapt to the shifting moraluniverse of the camps, who chose to or ended up perishing without havingtaken advantage. Primo Levi lived in Auschwitz for ten months during his youth; herecounts his personal experiences in the book "Survival in Auschwitz."Beyond the motivation of describing the atrocities he witnessed atAuschwitz, Levi implies in his preface that he hopes to "furnishdocumentation for a quiet study of certain aspects of the mind."[i] To thisend, he provides true stories of how various individuals survived the camp,and concludes that a certain amount of pragmatism was necessary to thestruggle. [v] Ibid., 58. Stealing from the administration was not merely licit but admirable; on the other hand, stealing from a fellow prisoner - especially bread - was an abomination and most of the time was severely punished...Murder, for example, could be a moral act if it kept an assassin from carrying out cruel and vicious assignments. [vi] Ibid., 9 . There arenumerous instances of cooperation among the prisoners, and of prisonerssacrificing themselves for the welfare of others. Endnotes BibliographyBorowski, Tadeusz. Borowski does the same in his book, "This Way for the Gas, Ladies andGentlemen," referring to "Greeks" and "Poles" and others.[xiii] UnlikeLevi, Borowski presents here a collection of stories inspired by hisexperiences at Auschwitz and Dachau, not accounts of actual occurrences.However, the stories are similar to Levi's memories of actual events, andconvey the same theme of survival at any cost. He asks his friend Henri to get him a silk shirt and someshoes, "the perforated kind, with a double sole."[xxii] The prisoners'dependence on goods from new arrivals leads them to hope that newtransports of prisoners continue to arrive, forgetting that they areprospering from the misfortune of others like them. [xiv] Ibid., 118. At the Pawiak prison he became washroom attendant - a kind of helper to Kronschmidt who, together with one Ukrainian, used to amuse himself torturing Jews.[xiv] ...[A]t the camp you are not likely to trip if you stand on the shoulders of men who have influence.[xv] Tadeusz lives in "Canada," a section of the camp that enjoys theprivilege of unloading new arrivals from the trains and thus having accessto the belongings of the new arrivals.[xvi] They harvest all of the foodthat is brought on the trains, and when possible, the clothing and shoes aswell. A former prostitute, who had made a livingwith sadistic practices, refused to strike another prisoner and wasexecuted as a result.[xxxiv] Another woman forgot her own suffering whileconcentrating on ways to reliev that of two friends thrown in a cell withher.[xxxv] Most of the camp survivors mentioned in Todorov's book claimthat they could never have made it without the help of those around them;that cooperation and generosity from others were essential to one'ssurvival.[xxxvi] Thus, while life in the camps challenged the morality ofmost prisoners, there was nevertheless a tenuous thread of humanity andsolidarity running throughout. We believe, rather, that the only conclusion to be drawn is that in the face of driving necessity and physical disabilities many social habits and instincts are reduced to silence.[viii] One institution that persisted inside the camp was the tendency ofpeople to categorize one another in terms of ethnicity. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. [iv] Ibid., 8 . [xxviii] Ibid., 163. The new arrivals generally do not know that some of their numbers willbe immediately executed, while others will be forced to perform hard laborfirst, before their eventual executions. Levi paints a picture of a "market economy" of goods and servicestraded between the prisoners and the camp administration, and among theprisoners themselves. [x] Ibid., 79. The old ways of living do not makesense and are not effective, in the new environment. The rules of camp society may have been different but they still existed. [ii] Ibid., 78. Some of these, with savage patience, acquire with their half-ration two pints of soup which, once in their possession, they subject to a methodical examination with a view to extracting the few pieces of potato lying at the bottom; this done, they exchange it for bread, and the bread for another two pints to denaturalize, and so on until their nerves are exhausted, or until some victim, catching them in the act, inflicts on them a severe lesson, exposing them to public derision.[ii] Food was not the only item of exchange; clothing was traded, as weretobacco, shoes, and even gold fillings from teeth. Therefore, it appears safest to conclude that human nature isvaried and diverse in its response to extraordinary circumstances; in thecamps as elsewhere, the majority of human beings will look first to theirown survival, then, when possible, to assisting their neighbors in theirsurvival. "And what if there aren't any more 'cremo' transports?" I say spitefully. For the great bulk of humanity,the foregoing may well be true, but clearly there are individuals for whomit is not. [xxxvii] Ibid., 36. [xxxvi] Ibid., 86. One woman, wanting to avoid the trucks, andsensing that her having a child will somehow condemn her to the trucks,denies that she is the mother of her child.[xviii] The S.S. Borowski's protagonist, Tadeusz, is a prisoner who behaves much likemost of the other prisoners: he does what he can to prolong his life anddecrease his daily suffering as much as possible. Yet, in the interest of integrating the information that is presentedin the three books, a conclusion must be drawn. [xviii] Ibid., 43. New York: Penguin Books, 1967.Levi, Primo. [xii] Ibid, 124. [xxxviii] Ibid., 139. [xiii] Tadeusz Borowski, This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen(New York: Penguin Books, 1967), 73. [xxxi] Ibid., 33. The second group, the "saved," were those who found ways to endure,by making the right friends, striking the right bargains, and takingadvantage of the right situations. [xv] Ibid., 12 . [xxiii] Ibid., 31. [xvi] Ibid., 3 . The nurses of theinfirmary themselves engaged in the sale of spoons, which were in greatdemand.[iii] Civilian workers, encountered in the course of laboringtogether at a nearby factory, were brought into the economy as well,particularly in the exchange of tobacco, which was in shorter supplyoutside the camp than within it.[iv] Everything the prisoners did, when they could help it, was with thepurpose of survival. Survival in Auschwitz. [xxii] Ibid., 3 . [xvii] Ibid., 37. [xix] Ibid., 46. [xxvi] Ibid., 55. [xxxv] Ibid., 89. The torturer Wilhelm Boger sometimes helped the Jews who worked under him. [xxxiv] Ibid., 64. Trade took on an unconventional nature at times, aswhen a man made his rounds in a building tending to wounded feet inexchange for bread: "...there is no one who will not willingly renounce aslice of bread to soothe the torment of those numbed sores which bleed atevery step all day...in this manner, honestly, engineer Kardos solves theproblem of living."[v] For the most part, Levi implies that survival meant engaging inpractices that were not always honest. [xi] Ibid., 1 2. Arguably the most valuable addition Todorov has made to the genre ofsurvivor accounts is the inclusion of the oppressors in his study. One old man, knowingly on his way to death in theoven, prepares nonetheless a package to bring with him, containing food,boots, and eating utensils.[xx] Observing this, another prisoner remarks toTadeusz that, in the old man's place, he would probably do the same. Levi talksabout a "Galician,"[ix] "the Greeks,"[x] "a Dutchman,"[xi] and"Poles,"[xii] among others. While it makes little senseto generalize that human nature is inherently either good or evil, self-serving or altruistic, it is also simplistic to suggest that bothoppositions exist in the same individual. In addition, there were those rarely or never displayed signsof altruism, but worked purely for their own survival. He suggests that itmakes little sense to speak of human nature in absolute terms; "...as forpeople, they are by nature neither good nor evil, or else they are both atonce: selfishness and altruism are equally innate."[xxxviii] This conclusion appears to be the most sensible one to draw regardinghuman nature, if one is to use the concentration camps as a reference.There were countless instances of altruism and evil committed by the sameindividuals, depending on circumstances: Borowski's Tadeusz and even PrimoLevi himself took advantage when they could, to survive. 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