3: Source sheet, excerpts from Holocaust survivor-writers Elie Wiesel, Tadeusz Borowski, Jerzy Kosiński, and Paul Celan.

3: Source sheet, excerpts from Holocaust survivor-writers Elie Wiesel, Tadeusz Borowski, Jerzy Kosiński, and Paul Celan.

From resource kit: Primo Levi’s "Survival in Auschwitz"

Elie Wiesel, Tadeusz Borowski, Jerzy Kosiński, and Paul Celan were all writers who survived different aspects of the Holocaust and wrote successful, well-regarded books about their experiences, each in his own unique and often idiosyncratic style. Each writer, with the exception of Elie Wiesel, committed suicide.

Suggested Activity: In small groups, ask students to compare the styles, tones, and narrative choices of all five writers (including Levi). Ask students which pieces they prefer and why. Ask students to list the ways in which Primo Levi’s story and writing style stand out from the other writers'.

Sources: Eli Wiesel, Night (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009), 32.

Tadeusz Borowski, This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (London: Penguin Books, 1959), 45.

Jerzy Kosiński, The Painted Bird (New York: Bantam, 1976), 62.

Paul Celan, Paul Celan: Selections, ed. Pierre Joris (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 46-47. © 2005 by the Regents of the University of California.