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
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.
Shoes Symbol Timeline in Survival in Auschwitz
