Primo Levi
In his memoir Survival in Auschwitz, Levi recounts his experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Levi was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 because of his status as an Italian Jew. Levi was a chemist by trade, a man more suited to cerebral tasks than physical ones, but despite this, he managed to undertake some of the most difficult and physically exhausting jobs within the camp. He does not speak much of his family because to speak of them makes him miss them all the more. He is careful not to speak of anything that he misses, because this makes their loss all the more difficult to bear. Levi adjusts to life in the camp by living day to day rather than by looking forward to a time when he might be free. He is surprised that he is able to find within himself the capacity for theft, deception, and viewing every fellow prisoner as a rival rather than as a friend. He learns the skills needed to survive as long as he can, but is not sure what he is surviving for as he cannot believe he will ever be free from this inhuman way of living. Levi does have one friend in the camp: Alberto, his childhood friend, and the two speak about their childhoods because it deepens their bond and reinforces the fact that it really did exist, and that they did have a normal life before they were imprisoned in Auschwitz. He makes connections but not friends with other prisoners. He is reliable and seen as so by the others, which makes him less of a threat to them. He is wily and works out how to make the most of his new situation as a chemist. He is a man of great forbearance but also a man who is determined not to forget what was taken from him.
Emilia
Emilia is only mentioned once in the first chapter. At three years old, she was killed by the Nazis because of her Jewish heritage. Her death represents what Levi calls the "historical necessity of killing the children of Jews." Though Levi dignifies Emilia's individuality by naming her and describing her as a "curious, ambitious, cheerful, intelligent child," he also writes of Emilia as a symbol for all the Jewish children killed by the Nazis.
Flesch
The first man mentioned by name in the memoir is a man named Flesch who steps forward on day one to act as an interpreter. He speaks hesitant but accurate German and, because he is the only man present who understands both languages, is given a job by the Germans that involves managing his fellow prisoners.
Steinlauf
Steinlauf is an older man with whom Levi becomes friendly in the camp. When Levi loses his will to clean himself in the washrooms, Steinlauf tells Levi that the importance of washing is the routine (not the cleanliness), and that by washing, soaping and drying, he is continuing the routine of being a human amidst all of the dehumanizing treatment. The goal is to survive and tell the story of what occurred in order to preserve civilization.
Alberto
Alberto is Levi's childhood friend from Italy who he encounters after being discharged from the infirmary. Alberto is smart and treats life in the prison camp strategically from the moment he arrives. He always seems to know how to read people and who to ally himself with in order to achieve the result he is looking for. He is popular, and consequently, people reveal themselves to him without him doing the same for them in return. He is considered "healthy" by the Germans and so makes every effort to get himself on the march out of the camp, believing that only the healthy will survive. But it ends up being a death march, and Alberto is never heard from again.
Sigi
Sigi is only seventeen years old and is desperately homesick for his mother. He talks about her constantly and also talks about food, which is something Levi does not appreciate since talking about food they cannot have only serves to make their hunger more intense. Sigi knows instinctively how to make people like, admire, and pity him, according to the current need. He is therefore able to make the English prisoners of war feel very sorry for him, and is the most gifted at getting food from them.
Templer
Templer is a prisoner mentioned by Levi primarily for his incredible capacity to find, and consume soup. He seems to have a nose for it and succeeds in finding additional pints of soup for their group. For this he is rewarded with more than the others. He has a limitless capacity for consuming soup and manages to relieve himself at will when the soup is being given out, so that he has the maximum "room" for drinking more of it.
Resnyk
Resnyk is a tall, red-haired, Polish prisoner who becomes Levi's bedmate after Levi is discharged from the infirmary. Though it is considered a misfortunate to be paired with a tall bedmate, Resnyk is clean and courteous. During the day, he shows Levi a great kindness by pairing with him to work: Resnyk helps Levi carry a heavy load.
Lorenzo
Lorenzo is an Italian civilian worker who greatly assists Levi by providing him with food, communication with the outside world, and a reminder of his humanity. Levi characterizes Lorenzo as being essentially good and simple: Lorenzo does these good things without expecting a reward, and Levi credits Lorenzo for his survival not just because of the physical assistance, but because the gesture of that assistance was a reminder to Levi of his own humanity.
Kraus
Kraus is a Hungarian newcomer who believes that working hard will contribute to his survival. But according to Levi, Kraus will likely not survive long in the camps with this mindset because the prisoners must conserve their energy to survive. Levi tells Kraus a made-up story about a dream he had in which Kraus ate dinner in Levi's family home. Though Levi considers Kraus to be naive, he provides Kraus with this moment of happiness by helping him imagine a warm, dry place where they can eat and sleep to their heart's content.
Arthur
Arthur is one of the Frenchmen who stayed behind in the infirmary with Levi and the other ill prisoners when the Nazis evacuated the camps. Arthur is described as a shrewd, small, and thin peasant who is older than his bed-companion, Charles.
Charles
Charles is the other Frenchman who stayed behind in the infirmary with Levi and the other ill prisoners when the Nazis evacuated the camps. He is a thirty-two-year-old school teacher from Lorraine who Levi characterizes as courageous and robust.
