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Primo Levi
The author, narrator, and protagonist of the memoir. A twenty-four-year-old Italian Jew starting his professional life after graduating summa cum laude with a degree in chemistry. Levi is an anti-Fascist political dissident under Mussolini’s alliance with Nazi Germany who is sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp as a Jew.
Read an in-depth analysis of Primo Levi.
Alberto
Primo Levi’s twenty-two-year-old compatriot and best friend. Alberto is a third-year university student in chemistry. He has street smarts, emotional intelligence, and communication savvy even in the face of language barriers.
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Null Achtzehn (Zero Eighteen)
A young internee at Auschwitz without a name, known only by the last three digits of his camp ID number. Null Achtzehn is the archetype of the doomed prisoner, drained of identity.
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Resnyk
Primo Levi’s bunkmate and member of his work squad. Resnyk is a thirty-year-old Polish Jew expatriate to Paris. The tall, red-haired Resnyk has quiet, courteous, and witty ways. He cares for Levi on the work site and often uses humor to encourage Levi.
Doktor Pannwitz
A German civilian scientist who runs the polymerization laboratory at the Buna rubber factory. He is a quintessential Aryan type with his blond hair, blue eyes, and supercilious demeanor. Doktor Pannwitz selects Levi and Alberto for the camp’s Chemical Kommando squad working within the lab on the synthetic rubber manufacture.
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Alex
The kapo, or overseer, of the Chemical Kommando squad and a “Green triangle” professional criminal placed in charge by the SS. Alex is proud of his Aryan pedigree that goes back several generations. He organizes and facilitates Levi’s and Alberto’s upgraded work details.
Jean
The youngest member of the Chemical Kommando with whom Levi develops a friendship. Jean’s social and multilingual skills ingratiate him to their superiors. He is the recipient of Levi’s discourse on Dante’s poetry.
Iss Clausner
One of the men chosen to apply for a chemist position on the newly created Chemical Kommando.
Lorenzo
An Italian civilian worker at the Buna rubber plant where Levi works. A caring man, Lorenzo supplements Levi’s sparse diet with soup for six months.
Charles
A Frenchman with whom Levi spends the last ten days at Auschwitz. Charles becomes Levi’s assistant in saving the eleven men on the infectious ward from certain death.
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Arthur
Charles’s friend and compatriot who helps the infectious ward patients survive after the German retreat from the camp.
Kraus
A Hungarian prisoner whom Levi pities for his simplistic worldview. Compliant and unimaginative, Kraus lacks the imagination to navigate the adversity of the camp.
The Last One
An unnamed member of the Special Kommando who carry out the Birkenau exterminations. He is hanged for his part in sabotaging a crematorium as a public example to the camp.
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Steinlauf
A decorated sergeant with the Austro-Hungarian army who presents essential advice to Levi about preserving one’s integrity.
Schepschel
A four-year Jewish survivor and a case study in a dogged will to live. Once a prosperous Polish saddler, Schepschel works hard and intermittently barters metalworking and musical performances.
Alfred L.
A prominent chemical industrialist in his fifties. He cultivates a well-groomed, effete image to distinguish himself from the masses. A case study in how one’s appearance affects how others perceive them, Alfred is appointed as an analyst in the Buna rubber plant as a styrene specialist.
Elias Lindzin
A powerfully built man of a short, strong body type who performs the work of several men. Elias has an intense energy that is stoked by other prisoners for their amusement. He’s a case study in shrewd physicality and amorality.
Henri
A twenty-two-year-old case study in survival by ruthless calculation. Henri practices the art of social seduction by exploiting people’s need for empathy. He cultivates friendships among high-placed officials.
Schlome
A Polish Jew who welcomes Levi to the Auschwitz camp on his first day. At about sixteen years of age, Schlome is already a three-year veteran of the camp. A caring and thoughtful young man, he advises Levi not to drink the contaminated water and, after asking Levi about his family, gives Levi a hug.
Engineer Kardos
A prisoner in Block 45 who performs nightly foot inspections on other prisoners to help prevent major infections.
Chajim
One of Levi’s bed companions while in the camp.
Wertheimer
One of Levi’s bunk mates in Block 45.
Ziegler
A prisoner in Block 45.
Sómogyi
A prisoner who dies in the infirmary one day before the Russians arrive to liberate the camp.
