Twenty five years after the loss of Primo Levi

A fellow traveler

Primo Levi said that he had two trades – that of a chemist and that of a writer. Yet, he took up a third, that of a witness. He became someone who made himself available to tell the story of Auschwitz to whoever wanted to hear about it, particularly, schoolchildren. We know him for this, above all – his extraordinary skill in making us take part in those terrible happenings. However, only if we learn to appreciate all of his works, the many worlds that he was able to create, that unmistakable code of this writing – only if we do this, can we fully grasp the meaning of his words and talk with him along the road that we all walk in the world of today.