After the start of World War II, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union began what would become two of the worst genocides in world history . These totalitarian governments would “welcome” people from all over Europe into a new dominion. An area in which they would learn, in the most tragic way, the amazing abilities that humanity possesses. The Nazis and Soviets gradually gained the ability to wipe millions of people off the face of the Earth. During the war they would go on to kill millions of people, both from their home country and from Europe. This was an effort to rid the Earth of people deemed unfit to live in their ideal society. These atrocities often went unrecognized and were forgotten by the rest of the world, leaving little hope for those who suffered. Yet optimism was not entirely dead in the hearts of the few and the strong. Reading Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi helps capture this vivid sense of resistance towards the brutality of German concentration and Soviet labor camps. Both Bardach and Levi provide a commendable account of their long, nightmarish experience, including the impact it had on their lives and the lives of others. The will to survive was what drove these two men to achieve their goals and prevent their oppressors from achieving theirs. Even after surviving the camps, their mission continued in hopes of spreading their story and preventing any future occurrence of such tragic events. “Having the resilience to survive what has left millions dead and millions more broken in spirit is heroic enough. Gathering from that experience the strength for a life dedicated to the care of others... half of the paper......you immediately feel that incurable diseases lead to ruin (Levi). When Levi contracts scarlet fever, he knows what will happen to him. Either he will die of illness or he will be put to death due to his inability to work (Levi). Fortunately, the Soviet army pushes its forces closer and closer to the camp, leaving possible chances of liberation (Levi). The Nazis lead the evacuation of the entire camp, except those in Ka-Be (Levi). Some believe that staying behind will only lead to their execution and decide to participate in the evacuation. Nonetheless, the Soviets arrived at Auschwitz several days later to liberate the camp (Levi). Works Cited Bardach, Janusz, and Kathleen Gleeson. Man is a wolf to man: surviving the gulag. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1998. Print.Levi, Primo. Survival at Auschwitz. Np: Simon & Schuster, 1958. Print.