Testimony of dehumanization in the documentary prose of primo levi and balys sruoga

Testimony of Dehumanization in the Documentary Prose of Primo Levi and Balys Sruoga This study “Testimony of Dehumanization in the Documentary Prose of Primo Levi and Balys Sruoga” provides analysis of experiences of dehumanization in memoirs “If This Is a Man” by Primo Levi and “Forest of the Gods” by Balys Sruoga. Despite the fact that authors were imprisoned in disparate concentration camps – Auschwitz and Stutthof – their experiences in the memoirs are alike. Which proves that there was a whole human destruction system created by the Nazis and applied in all the camps regardless of their size or location. Unbearable everyday life conditions, hard work, hunger, diseases which are described by authors led a person to the destruction, to the lowest state of humanity. It is noted that the style of Primo Levi and Balys Sruoga memoirs are not typical to similar works. In “If This Is a Man” the author looks at the camp with a notable distance, his language is calm, without any accusations or complaints. In “Forest of the Gods” the key stylistic elements are irony, sarcasm and grotesque. In both memoirs authors do not take the victim's position, do not concentrate on their own suffering, but focus their attention on the universality of the story. After analyzing the histories of both books and their publishing it is clear that in those days the society was not ready to accept and to read the testimonies of the suffering in the Nazi concentration camps