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Jean Levi
Doktor Pannwitz is a German administrator at Auschwitz who tests Levi on his knowledge of chemistry so that he might work as a chemist in the camp’s laboratory. Although Levi speaks well and is clearly intelligent, he senses that Pannwitz views him as something far less than human, a specimen that one sees through a glass cage. Levi does not hate him for this, but wishes he could understand what is in Pannwitz’s mind, for then he could explain “the insanity of the third Germany.”
Doktor Pannwitz Quotes in Survival in Auschwitz
The Survival in Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Doktor Pannwitz or refer to Doktor Pannwitz. 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 10. Chemical Examination
Quotes
Because that look was not one between two men; and if I had known how completely to explain the nature of that look, which came as if across the glass window an aquarium between tow beings who live in different worlds, I would also have explained the essence of the great insanity of the third Germany.
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Without hatred and without sneering, Alex wipes his hand on my shoulder, both the palm and the back of the hand, to clean it; he would be amazed, the poor brute Alex, If someone told him that today, on the basis of this action, I judge him and Pannwitz and innumerable others like him, big and small, in Auschwitz and everywhere.
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Doktor Pannwitz Character Timeline in Survival in Auschwitz
The timeline below shows where the character Doktor Pannwitz appears in Survival in Auschwitz. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10. Chemical Examination
...by a German professional three days later. When Levi stands before the German administrator, Doktor Pannwitz, he feels as if the man is watching him through aquarium glass like a specimen,...
(full context)
...springing back to life, recalling data and information he learned from studying chemistry in university. Pannwitz speaks German in a manner that is difficult to understand, but Levi keeps up, his...
(full context)
Chapter 15. Die drei Leute vom Labor
One morning during roll call, Alex announces that Doktor Pannwitz has finally made his decision: three chemists will be transferred to the laboratory, including Levi....
(full context)
