Primo Levi, in his novel Survival at Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted on concentration camp prisoners by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes “the denial of humanity” constantly imposed on prisoners through similes, metaphors and images of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization (“Dehumanization”). He makes his readers aware of the cruel reality of the concentration camp to help them examine the psychological effects that dehumanization has not only on those who are dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. It sets a serious and thoughtful tone with its audience eager to understand the reality of the genocide. In Survival at Auschwitz, Primo Levi laments that men become "empty" when they are deprived of everything they "love [and] possess" (Survival 27). He uses several similes comparing humans to animals, which shows how their brutal treatment by the Schutzstaffel dehumanized them. As Levi describes how he and the other inmates toil in the Chemical Kommando, he states that “Elias climbs like a monkey” (Survival 96). Comparing the way Elias climbs onto a monkey, on all fours, it is evident that he has lost his humanity. His behavior is compared to that of an animal which describes the psychological damage suffered by prisoners. A clash occurs in the camp and Levi describes Elias' fist as "powerful and precise as a catapult" (Survival 96). This form of mechanistic dehumanization interprets Elias “as cold, rigid [and] interchangeable” as a result of their oppression (“Dehumanization”). Furthermore, Levi frequently refers to the inmates as “beasts” throughout the novel, especially when subjected to brutal violence by the Schutzstaffel (Survival 117). ...... middle of the paper ...... analyzes the internal and external issues of man that convey the human condition of humanity. Survival in Auschwitz conclusively describes how humanity responds to the deepest and most torturous oppression of our past. It proves beyond doubt that the majority of men will fall into corruption or fail completely and give up hope altogether in the struggle for survival. His rather enticing account of how to truly survive in the camp and the “documentation…of certain aspects of the human mind” chronicle the process of their dehumanization (Survival 9). Levi ultimately considers man's reaction to the oppression and backlash of his means. Works Cited “Dehumanization.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 1 May 2014. Web. 01 January 2014.Levi, Primo. Survival at Auschwitz. New York: Classic House, 2008. Print."Schutzstaffel." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 1 April 2014. Web. 08 January. 2014.