--- description: Primo Levi's account of his arrival at the death camp title: The selection at Auschwitz image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc46835b8888c40b/69877c418e060168ce459fa3/auschwitz.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Selection at Auschwitz  by [Massimo Calabresi](/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. Jan 27, 2015 10:01 PM CUT  Auschwitz survivors and families visit the Birkenau Memorial carrying candles on Jan. 27, 2015 in Oswiecim, Poland. Auschwitz survivors and families visit the Birkenau Memorial carrying candles on Jan. 27, 2015 in Oswiecim, Poland.Ian Gavan—Getty Images  by [Massimo Calabresi](/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. Jan 27, 2015 10:01 PM CUT Seventy years ago today, Soviet troops liberated [the Auschwitz concentration camp](http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189 "undefined") in German-occupied southern Poland where, from 1942 on, the Nazis killed at least 960,000 Jews, 74,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma (Gypsies), 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and 10,000-15,000 others. Most were killed in gas chambers designed and constructed for the purpose. In February 1944, less than a year before the liberation, the Italian chemist Primo Levi arrived at the camp with more than 600 other Jews who had been deported from German-occupied Italy in sealed train cars. In all, some 10,000 Jews were deported to concentration and extermination camps from Italy after the German occupation in September 1943. Following is Levi’s account of the selection process by means of which the Nazis determined who would be killed and who would be kept alive for slave labor, from [_Survival in Auschwitz_](http://books.simonandschuster.com/Survival-In-Auschwitz/Primo-Levi/9780684826806 "undefined"), (Simon and Schuster): --- > “” --- \[[The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum](http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-features/special-focus/liberation-seventieth-anniversary "undefined")\] \[[Centro Primo Levi, New York](http://www.primolevicenter.org/Home.html "undefined")\] ### Auschwitz Survivors Mark 70th Anniversary of Camp’s Liberation  Auschwitz survivor Miroslaw Celka walks out the gate with the sign saying "Work makes you free" after paying tribute to fallen comrades at the "death wall" execution spot in the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp on Jan. 27, 2015. Odd Andersen—AFP/Getty Images  Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Auschwitz survivors lay down a wreath at the death wall of the former Auschwitz concentration camp on Jan. 27, 2015 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site in Oswiecim. Odd Andersen—AFP/Getty Images  Holocaust survivors pay tribute to fallen comrades at the "death wall" execution spot in the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp on Jan. 27, 2015. Odd Andersen—AFP/Getty Images  Survivors laying wreaths at the Wall of Death during the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 2015. Adam Jagielak—Getty Images  A Holocaust survivor wears a prisoner armband at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Jan. 27, 2015. Czarek Sokolowski—AP  A Holocaust survivor wipes her eye while standing along with others outside a detention block of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Jan. 27, 2015. Alik Keplicz—AP  The wall of death prior to a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi-German concentration and extermination camp KL Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Jan. 27, 2015. Rolf Vennenbernd—dpa/Corbis _Read next:_ [_Eva Kor: What It Was Like to Be Experimented on During the Holocaust_](http://time.com/3633858/genetic-experiments-holocaust/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3684757/the-selection-at-auschwitz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3684757/the-selection-at-auschwitz/"},"headline":"The Selection at Auschwitz","datePublished":"2015-01-27T22:01:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:59.979Z","description":"Primo Levi's account of his arrival at the death camp","url":"https://time.com/3684757/the-selection-at-auschwitz/","keywords":["jews","Nazis","WWII"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc46835b8888c40b/69877c418e060168ce459fa3/auschwitz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Massimo Calabresi","jobTitle":"Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief.","url":"https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc46835b8888c40b/69877c418e060168ce459fa3/auschwitz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Auschwitz","caption":"Auschwitz survivors and families visit the Birkenau Memorial carrying candles on Jan. 27, 2015 in Oswiecim, Poland.","creditText":"Ian Gavan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3684757/the-selection-at-auschwitz/","name":"The Selection at Auschwitz"}}]}] ```