SS groups

In the second chapter of the book, “The Drowned and the Saved,” Primo Levi talks about the existence of a group known as SS in concentration camps. The “Special Squad” had the task of maintaining order among the new arrivals at the camps. They determined, “who were to be sent into the gas chambers, to extract the corpses from the chambers, to pull gold teeth from jaws, to cut women’s hair, to sort and classify clothes, shoes, and the contents of luggage, to transport the bodies to the crematoria, to oversee the operation of the ovens, and to extract and eliminate the ashes” (50). The SS group consisted of German and Polish prisoners, Russian prisoners of war, and most disturbing, other Jews. The fact that Jews were forced to punish other Jews in these concentration camps and knowing what was in store for them was the most demonic crime the Nazis committed. Levi writes, “Conceiving and organizing the squads was National Socialism’s most demonic crime” (53). Levi explains that there was a message behind the Nazis setting up these squads. He writes, “We, the master race, are your destroyers, but you are no better than we are; if we so wish, and we do so wish, we can destroy not only your bodies but also your souls, just as we have destroyed ours” (53). Not only was this uncomfortable for the Jews that were apart of these SS groups, but it was also demoralizing knowing that they had to inflict punishment on people of the very same race and religion as themselves. I agree with Levi because there is a difference between the Germans killing the mass population of Jews (not saying that this is nearly ok), as opposed to forcing other Jews to take part in the action.