🕎 In December 1943, Primo Levi, a young Italian chemist, was arrested for his anti-fascist partisan activities. Upon being identified as Jewish, he was thrown onto a train bound for Auschwitz. There, his name was erased, and the number '174517' was tattooed onto his forearm. He was no longer a human being but a mere cog in the machine, a replaceable component providing labor for the German Reich.
Levi observed the camp as if he were observing a chemical laboratory. He witnessed the sheer desperation for survival. He saw eyes losing their light and people dying in helplessness. He saw others stealing bread, flattering guards, or using special skills to gain a slight advantage over others. Through this, he constantly asked: "Where is the bottom of humanity?"
As the Soviet army approached, the Germans retreated to the west, dragging prisoners with them. Levi, suffering from scarlet fever, was left behind in the camp's infirmary. In those final days, Levi and his fellow patients installed a stove and shared scavenged potatoes to care for the dying. Instead of stealing bread from one another, they began to help each other. Humanity had begun to return.
On this day, January 27, 1945, Primo Levi and some 7,000 survivors were liberated from Auschwitz.
However, it took him 10 months to return to his home in Italy. Decades later, at the age of 67, he ended his own life. The number '174517' was engraved on his tombstone. It was his prisoner number, a mark he carried to his grave.
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