Auschwitz, present-day Poland. Primo Levi, a prisoner in the camp, manages to steal some cerium bars, which he knows well as a chemist, with which he makes lighters, which he then sells, exploiting cerium’s renowned ability to produce sparks when rubbed. This will allow him to survive until January 1945, when the camp is liberated by the Red Army, and to write the novel “If This Is a Man.”
