Chapter 2 "On The Bottom," Summary and Analysis

Levi and twenty-nine other men are loaded onto a truck and transported to the Monowitz-Buna forced labor camp, about twenty minutes distance from the Auschwitz rail yard. They enter the gates under the sign Arbeit Macht Frei. They are held for hours in a cold room, filled ankle deep with freezing water. They are ordered to completely undress and remain naked, without shoes, for more hours. Then barbers enter the room and shave their heads. They then remain for more hours, wondering what has happened to their mothers, sisters, daughters, and infants. A man enters and offers some concise information—they are at Buna, a work camp of about 10,000 prisoners, near Auschwitz in Upper Silesia. The camp produces synthetic rubber, or buna, and is thus named after the product manufactured there. They...