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

‘Nobody knows how much I owe that man,’ Primo Levi said of the bricklayer who saved his life at Auschwitz-Birkenau. For six months, Lorenzo Perrone risked his own life to smuggle food, letters and clothing to prisoners. Without Perrone, Levi could not have survived and the world would have been deprived of his writing.

In A Man of Few Words, Carlo Greppi pieces together the life of Perrone, a near destitute labourer with little formal education. Despite their stark differences, Levi and Perrone’s friendship continued until Perrone’s tragic death. Levi never forgot Perrone. He 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.