Greeks

According to Levi, the Greeks were the most civilized people within the concentration camp. Levi had noted that the Greeks acted as a community, and worked with each other while they were in the camp. For example, although they were regulated heavily and monitored by the Nazis, they also had regulation within their society. Someone who was caught stealing from someone else was punished and dealt with within the Greek community by Greeks. The Greeks also traded with each other, and formulated plans with one another. Cooperation was a major aspect of the Greeks. Most importantly though as Levi points out the Greeks always remained loyal to each other. For example, if someone had extra food on Monday, they were storing it for Tuesday, or when they needed it next. This is what kept them human. Levi emphasizes how the Germans degraded the Jews in the camps, removing their clothing, shaving their heads, and giving ID numbers on their arm. The difference between the Greeks and everyone else was that there was much fighting between people for extra clothing and food. There was no internal order amongst them. Levi said they were made into rats, and forced to act like animals. The Nazi strategy was to make the Jews feel like animals, no longer human. Thus to the Germans, you want to get rid of the rats. Levi argued that it was harder for them to kill the Greeks because you kill the animals, but you keep people and humans. In effect, the Nazi strategy worked amongst all the Jews, with exception for the Greeks who kept their humanity by keeping their community.