As part of a day of events marking Holocaust Memorial Day in Stroud organised by Community Solidarity Stroud District, we will discuss Primo Levi’s book The Drowned and The Saved, from 3.30-5.30pm at The Lansdown Hall in Stroud (GL5 1BB), on Sunday 28th January. This will follow Stroud’s Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony, hosted by Community Solidarity Stroud District, from 2-3pm at the same venue.

The Drowned and The Saved is a book of eight essays by Italian-Jewish author, Primo Levi. It is his last work, written a year before his death. It is an analytical book about life and death in the Nazi extermination camps, informed by Levi’s personal experience as a survivor of Auschwitz.

You can buy the book from the Yellow Lighted Bookshop (Nailsworth, Tetbury or Chalford pick up or delivery at £3.50) via the previous link – RRP £10.99. When looking at your “basket” enter the “couponcode” stroudradical24 for a 12% discount – final book price £9.67, a saving of £1.32)

The book can be also be read online for free.

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover costs. Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book. If you do not have time to read the whole book, please choose a single essay to read.

Also taking place on Sunday January 28th at 7.30pm is a screening of Denial, as part of Stroud Film Festival. The film is based on the acclaimed book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier by Deborah Lipstadt. More information and tickets available to buy online from the Festival website. Tickets are be priced at £6 – cheaper tickets (£4) are available to people on low incomes, and people who are able can pay £8 to ‘pay it forward’.

Resources:

• Read The Drowned and The Saved online for free (archive.org)
• A 4 minute video from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, introducing Primo Levi through the context of the typescript of Levi’s first book that his American relatives recently donated to the Museum (embedded below)
• Book review by Michael Poglar