Jean is a young Jewish man and member of the Chemical Kommando at Auschwitz alongside . Jean is an assistant to Alex and works diligently to keep Alex from following through on his worst urges, sparing his fellow Jews. Levi and Jean become friends. One day, though they both speak French, Levi spends an hour trying to teach Jean Italian by reciting the Canto of Ulysses from Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Jean recognizes that the mental effort does Levi good and seems to bolster his sense of humanity, and so engages with the lesson enthusiastically. Although Levi never indicates what happens to Jean, he feels a deep sense of urgency to make Jean understand Italian, since the next day either one of them could be dead.