In Surviving Auschwitz by Primo Levi, an autobiographical account of the author's experience of the Holocaust, the concept of home takes on various forms and meanings. Levi writes about his experience as an Italian Jew during the Holocaust. We learn about his journey to Auschwitz, his imprisonment and final return home. This article explores the idea of home throughout the work. As a concept, it symbolizes the past, the future, and a part of Levi's identity. I also respond to the concept of home in Survival In Auschwitz by comparing it to my idea and what home means to me: a place of stability and reflection that remains a constant in my changing life. In Levi's description of his journey to Auschwitz, the house gradually becomes a symbol of the past. As a young Jewish chemist and participant in the anti-fascist movement, Levi was arrested in Italy and eventually taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. As he is about to board the train to the camp, Levi states that “the happy memories of our homes, still so close in time and space [were] as painful as being pierced by a sword” (Levi 10). At this point in the L...
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