Speak You Also e-bog

In 1943, sixteen-year-old Paul Steinberg was arrested in Paris and deported to Auschwitz. A chemistry student, Steinberg was assigned to work in the camp's laboratory alongside Primo Levi, who would later immortalize his fellow inmate as "e;Henri,"e; the ultimate survivor, the paradigm of the prisoner who clung to life at the cost of his own humanity. "e;One seems to glimpse a human soul,"e; Levi wrote in Survival in Auschwitz, "e;but then Henri's sad smile freezes in a cold grimace, and here he is again, intent on his hunt and his struggle; hard and distant, enclosed in armor, the enemy of all."e;Now, after fifty years, Steinberg speaks for himself. In an unsparing act of self-examination, he traces his passage from artless adolescent to ruthless creature determined to do anything to live. He describes his strategies of survival: the boxing matches he staged for the camp commanders, the English POWs he exploited, the maneuvers and tactics he applied with cold competence. Ultimately, he confirms Levi's judgment: "e;No doubt he saw straight. I probably was that creature, prepared to use whatever means I had available."e; But, he asks, "e;Is it so wrong to survive?"e;Brave and rare, Speak You Also is an unprecedented response to those dreadful events, bringing us face-to-face with the most difficult questions of humanity and survival.