Reading Note: Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)

The essay talks about the experiences of the prisoners who lived in the concentration camps.
The novel begins with a clear understanding of the background and setting of the book, it
gives us a clear idea of the experiences and emotions of the reader, the novel revolves around
the story of a survivor of the concentration camps. The novel tells us about the everyday life
of Jews in a small concentration camp and the ordeals he has to go through. The book talks
about how the SS men recruited some of the prisoners as capos and how they treated the
prisoners who had little to no privilege and their suffering which were much more severe and
excruciating. 
All the prisoners lived in great uncertainty, unable to guarantee whether they would live
another day or not. Due to such extreme conditions, it was every man for themselves, names
were irrelevant as they were now just numbers to the authorities, and this made them lose a
sense of their identity. He talks about the differences between the capos and the rest of the
prisoners. Accounts of how cigarettes were used as currency inside of the prisons even
though other than the capos, no one else was allowed to smoke, the author mentions how he
used to work for a few cigarettes just so he could exchange them for soup. 
According to the author, there are three mental phases that a prisoner goes through. The first
was ‘shock’. The prisoners of Auschwitz in their first stage of shock did not fear death. They
clung to the sliver of hope that they would be saved at the last possible time by a miracle.
They also felt an acute longing for home, they were forced into menial and degrading jobs
while receiving beatings. Once they were in the second stage, their feelings were numbed and
they stopped caring anymore. The author witnessed some prisoners stealing a dead man’s
possessions without the slightest sense of remorse.  
Once they were told to dig up soil. The author was physically weak at the time. When the
guard yelled at him for the pitiful amount of work that he had done, the author who was
beyond caring, spoke back to the man. The indignation at the cruelty of the pain was far
worse than the actual pain Some inmates would regress into a more primitive form of life.
The prisoners dreamt of bread and cake and baths. Not having these basic desires met led him
to seek fulfilment in their dreams. The author did not wake an inmate who was suffering from
a terrible nightmare because there was no dream more horrible than their reality.
There were very few positive pleasures. You shouldn’t judge someone in a situation of life
and death. Despite everything, when they were sick, they were content. The people in the
terrible picture were not unhappy after all. He volunteered to help save lives as opposed to
the unproductive labour that he was doing. This meant that they would be taken care of until
they left for fear of them not dying. They tried to avoid the attention of the SS at all times.
The prisoners desired solitude. The desperately ill was not given medication except
encouragement. No one placed any value on human life at the camp. The prisoners saw
themselves only as playthings of the guards. He only answered what he was asked truthfully
and said little else.
 
After his experiences at the camp, he had become depersonalised as he had lost all ability to
feel anything. He had begun a new journey, From the war of nerves, he moved to a sense of
mental peace. The prisoners began to justify their behaviour with their terrible experiences.
This was revealed in some insignificant events.
It would take time to guide people back to the truth that no one has the right to do wrong,
even if wrong has been done to them.