Summary Of First Thoughts By Richard Levi
1. First Thoughts
I agree with Levi that the treatment that he and all the other Nazi prisoners endured was the ‘rock bottom’ of human experience in all of human history because of their degradation not only by their animal-like treatment but also the wider hatred in the philosophy of the entire German population. What these prisoners experienced was a total loss of their humanity added on to unimaginable torture and agony, including separation from their families and the murder of women & children. When one looks at the ultimate scale of human suffering, it is hard to get much lower than this, because instead of ‘just’ murdering the prisoners, the Nazis tried to reduce them to something less than human.
2. Interpreting Meanings Question 2 - Levi use the phrase “second act” to show the second stage in the Nazi process of dehumanizing their prisoners. In this process, they take away the prisoners’ uniqueness and individuality in the form of their facial features, shaving their hair and beards and then locking them into a freezing shower room. Bit by bit, these men are turned from the ordinary civilians they once were to mere shadows of their former selves, despised by German society and …show more content…
He references the “witches, the Holy Spirit, and the devil” to try and show the Nazis’ good cop/bad cop routine in this process. The Nazis began with the bad cop, or witch/devil, in the form of the despicable guards and barbers, and the Holy Spirit shines through in the form of the Hungarian doctor, although Levi does not trust the motives of the doctor because of his unknown connection to the Nazis. Lastly, Levi also conveys how unbelievable of a situation he is facing with these words, as it is hard to believe all this would ever happen, and it all seems like a terrible
I agree with Levi that the treatment that he and all the other Nazi prisoners endured was the ‘rock bottom’ of human experience in all of human history because of their degradation not only by their animal-like treatment but also the wider hatred in the philosophy of the entire German population. What these prisoners experienced was a total loss of their humanity added on to unimaginable torture and agony, including separation from their families and the murder of women & children. When one looks at the ultimate scale of human suffering, it is hard to get much lower than this, because instead of ‘just’ murdering the prisoners, the Nazis tried to reduce them to something less than human.
2. Interpreting Meanings Question 2 - Levi use the phrase “second act” to show the second stage in the Nazi process of dehumanizing their prisoners. In this process, they take away the prisoners’ uniqueness and individuality in the form of their facial features, shaving their hair and beards and then locking them into a freezing shower room. Bit by bit, these men are turned from the ordinary civilians they once were to mere shadows of their former selves, despised by German society and …show more content…
He references the “witches, the Holy Spirit, and the devil” to try and show the Nazis’ good cop/bad cop routine in this process. The Nazis began with the bad cop, or witch/devil, in the form of the despicable guards and barbers, and the Holy Spirit shines through in the form of the Hungarian doctor, although Levi does not trust the motives of the doctor because of his unknown connection to the Nazis. Lastly, Levi also conveys how unbelievable of a situation he is facing with these words, as it is hard to believe all this would ever happen, and it all seems like a terrible