Auschwitz Report
Encyclopedia
Auschwitz Report is a non-fiction report on the Auschwitz extermination camp by Primo Levi
and Leonardo de Benedetti
.
Whilst in a Soviet holding camp in Katowice
in 1945, Levi and de Benedetti were asked by the Soviet authorities to document the living conditions in Auschwitz. De Benedetti was on Levi's transport from Fossoli, near Modena
, Italy
. Both were left behind when the camp was evacuated and so their time at Auschwitz coincided exactly. De Benedetti was a medical doctor, though he only acted as a doctor in the final weeks of his time at the camp. His survival was truly amazing given that he was in his 40's when he arrived, as normally those over the age of 30 were sent directly to the gas chambers on arrival.
Much of the report describes the facilities for treating the sick. Treatments were rudimentary, medicine was in short supply and the skill of the nurses was minimal. Normal practices of hygiene
were ignored. Cross-contamination and infection
were widespread. The hospital was only set up a few months prior to Levi's arrival; there had previously been no medical treatment at all. Sick inmates worked until they collapsed, at which point they were beaten; if they moved they were sent back to work and if not they were sent to the crematoria.
The book ends with two obituary notices written by Levi about de Benedetti.
Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist and writer. He was the author of two novels and several collections of short stories, essays, and poems, but is best known for If This Is a Man, his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland...
and Leonardo de Benedetti
Leonardo de Benedetti
Leonardo de Benedetti was an Italian Jew and physician who was interned in the Auschwitz concentration camp from February 1944 until its liberation in January 1945. After the end of the Second World War he and fellow inmate Primo Levi wrote Auschwitz Report, a factual report of conditions inside...
.
Whilst in a Soviet holding camp in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
in 1945, Levi and de Benedetti were asked by the Soviet authorities to document the living conditions in Auschwitz. De Benedetti was on Levi's transport from Fossoli, near Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Both were left behind when the camp was evacuated and so their time at Auschwitz coincided exactly. De Benedetti was a medical doctor, though he only acted as a doctor in the final weeks of his time at the camp. His survival was truly amazing given that he was in his 40's when he arrived, as normally those over the age of 30 were sent directly to the gas chambers on arrival.
Much of the report describes the facilities for treating the sick. Treatments were rudimentary, medicine was in short supply and the skill of the nurses was minimal. Normal practices of hygiene
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
were ignored. Cross-contamination and infection
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
were widespread. The hospital was only set up a few months prior to Levi's arrival; there had previously been no medical treatment at all. Sick inmates worked until they collapsed, at which point they were beaten; if they moved they were sent back to work and if not they were sent to the crematoria.
The book ends with two obituary notices written by Levi about de Benedetti.