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During World War II, the tragedy that unfolded in regards to the Holocaust was horribly atrocious. Many were imprisoned and died in unimaginable ways. The hideousness that the Germans demonstrated was beyond comprehension to the outside world. It was undoubtedly far worse for the victims within who witnessed the acts against humanity every day as they somehow survived the concentration camps. Some survived by aiding the Nazis, but most survived by luck or sheer force of will. While it cannot be assumed that there are no great emotional scars remaining for the survivors, some of whom have taken their own lives since, it is quite evident that the strength many of these survivors, including Primo Levi, demonstrated was almost impossible in the face of devastating odds. Then there are those on the other side of the spectrum. The Nazi officers, whose cruelty and horrendous acts caused so much pain and suffering, were in a way imprisoned themselves. A good example of this is the story of Franz Stangl, who was a commandant of Treblinka extermination camp. Human beings will go to desperate measures and do things that are usually unthinkable when their lives are threatened, even if it means participating in the destruction of others. This paper will examine the lives of Franz Stangl as commandant of Treblinka and Primo Levi as a prisoner of Auschwitz. Their lives as an officer and a prisoner will be compared and contrasted and will show how these roles sometimes overlap each other.
Life as a Jew in Nazi Germany was a time of great oppression. Many of them were discriminated against, put into ghettos and ultimately sent to concentration or extermination camps. Primo Levi was a man who endured almost a year inside the horrible walls of Auschwitz. Life in the concentration camp was very difficult to tolerate. Food was scarce to the Jewish prisoners, clothing was inadequate and living conditions were ghastly. Primo Levi tells of his time there at Auschwitz. He arrived in a train car fit for cattle that was so crowded one could only stand and hope that their would be enough air to go around. This was only the beginning of the horror that was about to come. After arriving in the camp and settling in it turned into a game of survival.
Levi tells of his accounts in the camp. They were served a meager meal of watery soup and a small ration of bread which was as good as money used to barter within the camp. The prisoners, Haftling as they were called, were assigned to a block and a bed companion. There was roll call every morning before the long and laborious day of work began and were required to wash up in the latrine, which was in repulsive condition and seemed to defeat the purpose.
The Ka-Be was the camp's hospital. Levi was sent there for a wound he had. There he learned that time at the Ka-Be was a time for rest. As long as you were not too sick as to not be useful anymore. Levi took advantage of this time and used it to gain his strength and health back. Time spend in the Ka-Be was peaceful compared to life in the labor camp. In the Ka-Be, the patients were allowed to rest all day, rising only for inspection, cleaning and meals. He told of those who used their initial sickness to spend as much time in the Ka-Be as possible. One man, who had to show proof of his unending diarrhea would bribe someone with diarrhea and switch the buckets to show the nurses his proof.
After spending time in the camp, one learns how to survive and use every resource possible in order to survive. Levi also gets to be part of the Chemical Kommando and the laboratory which is good because his work load lightens and he is sheltered from the extreme cold. Levi ends his story with his next visit to the Ka-Be. He is admitted for scarlet fever and is indeed entitled to forty days of rest. But, during that time, the war was breaking out and the Russians were on their way so the camp was abandoned. Everyone and anyone that was well enough to walk was brought along and those who were too ill were left. Levi was one of those who stayed and this began his story of ten days.
After the camp was abandoned, the Russians came and bombed the place but Levi was lucky enough that his building only sustained minor damage. The next ten days were rough which included hunts for food, scavenging for heat sources and keeping everyone in his hut safe. These ten days of hardship ended with the rescue of these men back to freedom.
Levi lived as a prisoner in the concentration camp. He was an Italian Jew and therefore sentenced to a life of labor and imminent premature death. As he adjusted to life in the concentration camp, he learned to cope with the fact that this was his fate and that he should accept it. Franz Stangl, the commandant of Treblinka, although on the opposite end of the field, thought his fate was set as well and that he should accept it. He tells of his accounts of being an ss officer of Treblinka, not by choice, but he claims by implied force.
Gitta Sereny spends over 70 hours conducting interviews with Franz Stangl in the prison he was being held while awaiting his appeal. She not only interviews him but also his wife, family, friends and anyone who had contact with the man. He tells of his stories as commandant of Nazi extermination camps and his rationalization for each of the crimes he committed against mankind.
Stangl began as a police officer and soon after was in charge of the T4, Euthanasia programme. There he aided in the destruction of individuals who were ill or handicapped. From Sobibor to Treblinka, Stangl continued his reign as kommandant and also continued, although not first-hand, to claim the lives of Jewish citizens.
During that time Stangl was already married with children, although he spent most of his time at the camp and away from his family. He probably saw them only a few times a year. It is hard to imagine how a man could take part in a scheme to wipe out an entire race, especially when he had a family at home. When he was asked how he viewed the Jewish people who came in on trains and on their way to be exterminated, he said he saw them as cattle and inhuman. He never did compare those innocent people to his own family and how he would feel if they were being randomly exterminated. For me, this showed another side of Franz Stangl. Throughout the book, he always portrayed himself to be one of the victims. He said he did not have a choice to quit what he was doing for fear of being killed. It is almost as if he saw himself as a prisoner as well but after that statement, there was no longer an ounce of me that could empathize with him. It was at this point that I really saw Stangl, no longer as a victim of the Third Reich but as a perpetrator of the worst kind.
At first I felt sorry for him. It really did seem like he was being forced to stay and be part of Hitler's final solution. He mentioned that he did not know exactly what was going on at first and that he was in a way kept in the dark about what was really happening. Then when he did find out exactly what was happening it was too late for him to leave safely. Like Levi, he was kept there against his free will but the only difference is that Stangl ultimately could have left if he chose. Levi was a prisoner who was heavily guarded and exposed to terrible conditions while Stangl was one of those guards who lived a comfortable life and didn't stop what he was doing because he feared punishment from higher authorities. In my opinion, any real man who did not want to participate in the murder of thousands of people would have refused even if it meant risking their own life. But it was interesting to read about Stangl who seemed to honestly think that he did not have as much fault as he was being accused of. The fact that he escaped the first time he was captured and then appealed the second time he was captured showed that he did not feel remorse or guilt about anything he had done. He had a rationale for everything he did that he thought exonerated him from guilt. The examination of his conscience showed that he did not really have one. His twisted mind turned everything around so that he could wash his hands of any guilt. This aspect of him really disgusted me. His self portrayal as a victim was utterly ridiculous.
In Auschwitz, Levi lived the life of a prisoner. This was a case of a true victim. A man who was forced into a concentration camp and forced to do slave labor. Even though the population that inhabited the camp were all prisoners they lived by rules of survival. Some of the victims turned into perpetrators. They stole from other prisoners and made life more difficult. Prisoners had to guard their belongings very carefully or else they would be stolen. Levi did not succumb to this type of attitude but he did learn a few tricks that would help him along while he was there.
The point I am trying to make is that when it comes down it, we will do anything to survive. The conditions that arise and threaten us are up to the individual to interpret but when one thinks he is in danger he will do almost anything to alleviate it. The tragedy that struck the Jews of World War II was a terrible atrocity and the fact that it went on so long and took so many lives make it almost impossible to fathom but the reality is that it did happen and there is no excuse that can justify those acts. Anyone that took part in these acts should be punished regardless of their reasoning for participation. The things that happened were inexcusable then and still inexcusable now sixty years later.
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