Chapter 5

“Man’s capacity to dig himself in, to secrete a shell, to build around himself a tenuous barrier of defence, even in apparently desperate circumstances, is astonishing and merits a serious study. It is based on an invaluable activity of adaptations, partly passive and unconscious, partly active: of hammering in a nail above his bunk from which to hang up his shoes; of concluding tacit pacts of non-aggression with neighbours; of understanding and accepting the customs and laws of a single Kommando, a single Block. By virtue of this work, one manages to gain a certain equilibrium after a few weeks, a certain degree of security in face of the unforeseen; one has made oneself a nest, the trauma of the transplantation is over.(56)”

Home, oh sweet home. Is it merely females that make card boxes into livable homes? Oh have all humans built in a drive that creates a setting that is livable. In psychology we are learning about how humans try and live in an equilibrium. Their body tries to create stability. And I think that’s what Primo is talking about. The men at this camp were trying to create a sense of home likeness in their surroundings. As silly as that sounds, and also as impossible as that is to do in a concentration camp. These men did that, and that also means that having a home is important to them. With so many rights stripped off of their backs, maybe they needed this one last resort to say, “after my day at work, I can go to a bed, and that is MY space.” Without homes, they men would have died, and that is a clue on how they did survive. All men have basic needs that need to be met. I often do that. When struggles come up in my life with other people, I tell myself to not talk to people. For the moment that works, because I transport myself to a spot in which nothing can touch me. It’s reliving going into this state, because I know I can raise myself above the situation. Luckily, I’m the kind of person that cannot keep my mouth shut, so I end up talking. But these men are like that, they need something, anything, to fulfill them.