Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
A Man of Few Words: The Bricklayer of Auschwitz Who Saved Primo Levi

A Man of Few Words: The Bricklayer of Auschwitz Who Saved Primo Levi

Greppi, Carlo
Curtis, Howard

Hardcover

Biographies GeneralGeneral World HistoryHolocaust

Publisher Price: $26.95

ISBN10: 1908906618
ISBN13: 9781908906618
Publisher: Telegram Books
Published: Sep 9 2025
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.80
Height: 1.10 Width: 5.40 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

'Nobody knows how much I owe that man', Primo Levi said of the bricklayer who saved his life at Auschwitz. 'I could never repay him.' Levi was referring to Lorenzo Perrone, who - at great personal risk - smuggled food, letters and clothing to Levi and other prisoners. The soup might contain sparrows' wings, prune stones, or even fragments of pulped newspaper, but it provided Levi with the 500 extra calories he needed to survive each day. Perrone said nothing as he left the mess tin by a half-constructed brick wall.

In A Man of Few Words, Carlo Greppi pieces together Levi's saviour, a near-destitute labourer with minimal formal education. Despite their stark differences, Levi and Perrone's friendship survived the Holocaust and continued until Perrone's tragic death. Levi never forgot Perrone. As his friend withdrew from the world, Levi tried persistently to preserve the memory of this man of few words who had saved his life, but who left few traces of his own behind.

Compassionate, worldly and prescient, Greppi brings to light a universal story about an individual who kept hope alive in one of the darkest times and places known to man.

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