Anti-Climacus

LINK: On a less cynical note, Norm has a good appreciation of Primo Levi. Levi was certainly an astute observer, though much excellent writing came from those who survived that experience: Jean Améry, Charlotte Delbo, Viktor Frankl, Simon Wiesenthal, etc. Though Levi's life story is a tragic one, I think there's something in that collection of people--especially Frankl and Wiesenthal--that defeats any simple thesis about what the experience meant. From this, hope, however narrow and limited in scope, and also Arendt's motivation in ending The Origins of Totalitarianism by quoting Augustine: initium ut esset homo creatus est.