The Holocaust, part III – Survival and Denial
Primo Levi’s “Survival in Auschwitz” is an insider’s look at the holocaust, showcasing the struggle for survival and its effects on humanity. Probably the most damning section comes near the end, after the SS guards have left the camp behind in ruins, fleeing before the coming of the Soviets. In it, Levi philosophizes over the nature of death and survival, who lives and who dies, a question which was raised frequently in Maus. The selections, the killings, the camp in all its arbitrarily chaotic nature—this is the true horror of surviving Auschwitz.
Earlier in the book, Levi details the aftermath of a selection, while wondering himself why he survived. Similarly, several young, healthy men were chosen for the gas chambers, and yet one old man (Kuhn) managed to survive the inspection, and prays, thanking God while the chosen victims look on. Levi writes:
“Kuhn is out of his mind. Doesn’t he see, in the bunk next to his, Beppo the Greek, who is twenty years old, and will be gassed the day after tomorrow, and knows it, and is lying there staring at the light bulb without saying anything and without thinking about anything more? Doesn’t Kuhn realize that next time it will be his turn? Doesn’t Kuhn understand that what has happened today is an abomination that no propitiatory prayer, no pardon, no atonement by the guilty, nothing at all in the power of man can ever heal again?
If I were God, I would spit Kuhn’s prayer out to the ground.” (Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, pp 129-130, 1996 Touchstone Books ed.)
Living in a prison system—any prison system—fundamentally breaks down one’s humanity, whether forced by the system or otherwise. Freedoms and possessions taken for granted are summarily repossessed or denied, in order to keep order. I remember a scene from an old Alcatraz movie with Clint Eastwood, where a fellow inmate rambles on about the Brooklyn Dodgers, only for Eastwood to point out that the Dodgers moved to California; in a maximum security prison, a prisoner doing life will miss countless changes over a lifetime. I remember reading that many convicts will commit a crime in prison—a stabbing, a theft, anything—just to see the things they’re denied seeing, however briefly, while they’re shuffled to and from hearings: grass, trees, the sun, cars, women.
The Holocaust was no different. Who has time to wonder when everyone is in constant fear of death, starving, doing back-breaking work while being beaten by their overseers? The Nazi machine managed to dehumanize its victims inside and out. On the outside was its propaganda machine, culling the “weak and impure” within the system—the mentally handicapped, homosexuals, Jews, leftist political activists, and a swath of Slavic minorities. On the inside was the breakdown of order and the struggle for survival on a day-by-day basis within the camps.
Since the start of the War on Terror, the Guantanamo Bay facilities have received a number of comparisons to the Holocaust within their criticisms. While not similar at all in the sense of the Holocaust—it is not a death camp or work camp—it is similar in the vein of imprisonment and denial. Within its barbed-wire fences, reports the world media, resides a group ranging from radical terrorists to misguided idealists to accidentally-interned nobodies. Recently, President Obama admitted that his plans to close the facility by 2010 weren’t feasible, though the BBC reported that the situation was changing for the better after the announcement that Guantanamo will close:
Military and civilian staff we spoke to say that the atmosphere has got better – ever since President Obama signed the executive order to shut Guantanamo.
According to the military, some detainees used to regularly throw their “bodily fluids” at the guards.
It still happens, but not as much. The vast majority of detainees are now deemed “compliant”.
That means that 70% of the “prison” population are now allowed to live communally for up to 20 hours a day.
In camp six we saw detainees in art classes, or swapping library books, or bringing their concerns to a camp commander.
They even get to watch satellite TV – Al-Jazeera English and a few sports channels. They can order DVDs – the camp librarian says the Harry Potter movies are a favourite.
That said, the media are still not allowed to talk to any detainee to get their side of the story.
We are not permitted to film their faces.
And 26 of them – more than 10% of the population – are on hunger strike.
Some have been for years.
Until the facility closes, nobody outside the U.S. government will get an inside look of what goes on behind the doors in the top-secret facility.
Now, how to tie this to the Holocaust? Obviously, the two are different examples from different paths, but the similarities with imprisonment are still there, raising questions about the use of denial and the impact on a person, the balance between order and dominance. Again, I have no good answers. This is a dense and touchy issue, one which has already been a hot debate before I added the Holocaust into the mix.
Guantanamo calm as deadline shifts
BBC News, Guantanamo Bay
