EIGHT : This Side of Good and Evil

Chapter eight suggests a different aspect of the prisoner’s life in the concentration camp. As discussed about in our group, wherever you go, there is always a type of economic flow within a society of people. Although it is difficult to say that the concentration camps were a type of society, it is safe to say that there was a type of economic flow within the prisoners and also some authoritative figures in the camp.

As an example, Primo Levi explained the market to us. Through the market, the prisoners could not only experience a form of life outside the camps, they could also barter sell and buy goods that are essential to their survival in the concentration camps. Most sold products were clothes, typical utensils such as spoons or knives and last but not least, tobacco. These products were indeed useful when living inside the barbed wires of a society.

Despite the main focus upon the market, the title made me to realize a fact and thought of the SS soldiers. By saying, ‘This side of good and evil’ it contained numerous thoughts that made me think to choose one of. To me this is my conclusion. I believe that by saying ‘this side’ it means that not the outside world but the inside of the barbed wires. And by stating good and evil, I think that in truth, there were no good or evil categories to choose from when classifying prisoners. Whether the actions, minds, thoughts of a prisoner was good or evil, they were just slaves, a source of physical labor to benefit from. The only ‘Evil’ I believe that existed was the minds of the Germans themselves. Apart from the SS soldiers, all prisoners were considered the same: physical labor machines that can be rid of when their life is done.