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Shoes function as a minor symbol of one’s status in the camp’s social hierarchy. Jewish prisoners are only allowed wooden shoes, which are painful and cause dangerous sores that can lead to lethal infections. This reflects both the prisoners’ low station and the general disregard with which the Germans treat them. Contrarily, German officials and even German prisoners are given leather shoes, which are far more comfortable and less likely to cause dangerous infections. Near the end of the story, as the Russian army is approaching and Alberto is about to leave the camp and and take his first steps—he believes—towards his liberation, he acquires for himself a pair of leather shoes. These shoes symbolize his rising position within the hierarchy of the camp, since he will become a free man and the German officials will become the new prisoners.
Shoes Quotes in Survival in Auschwitz
The Survival in Auschwitz quotes below all refer to the symbol of Shoes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2. On the Bottom
Quotes
And do not think that shoes form a factor of secondary importance in the life of the Lager. Death begins with the shoes; for most of us, they show themselves to be instruments of torture, which after a few hours of marching cause painful sores which become fatally infected.
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Shoes Symbol Timeline in Survival in Auschwitz
The timeline below shows where the symbol Shoes appears in Survival in Auschwitz. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2. On the Bottom
...shower, naked and freezing, into another room, given a ragged set of clothes and wooden-soled shoes, and made to run 100 yards through the snow to yet another hut before they...
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...be stolen at first opportunity. Each prisoner must always carry their possessions (their shirt, wooden shoes, soup bowl, and spoon) in hand, or sleep with them under their head. The camp...
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Shoes are of primary importance, since “death begins with the shoes.” A man wearing broken or...
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Chapter 4. Ka-Be
Since it is forbidden to wear shoes in the infirmary, Levi must stand barefoot in the mud while he waits his turn...
(full context)
Chapter 8. This Side of Good and Evil
...any other economy except that it deals in such goods as soup, bread, tobacco, and shoes, each valued at fluctuating exchange rates based upon a ration of bread. As with all...
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...of Ka-Be are known to be a primary force in the Market’s functioning, selling the shoes and clothes of the dead as well as various chemicals and kits. More than anything,...
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Chapter 9. The Drowned and the Saved
...the block supervisors, and uses the capital he gains to have the cobbler improve his shoes. Sometimes people see him singing and dancing for the Slovak workers in exchange for a...
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Chapter 17. The Story of Ten Days
...any prisoners healthy enough to march will be given several days’ worth of rations, new shoes, and sent on a 12-mile hike with the rest of the prisoners and the German...
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...had scarlet fever in in his lifetime. Alberto has found himself a pair of leather shoes to walk the journey in, and Levi knows that he must find himself a pair...
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