Russian aristocrat; Primo was from the working class of Italy. Generally their demographic backgrounds could not get much different either. Religion was also a major and blinding difference. Also as mentioned above Primo was a Jew and Missy was Christian. This difference is what separated them further in Missys freedom and Primos captivity. Another difference that played a huge role in each book was the actual placing of each story. Missy wrote her diaries as she traveled through out Germany and Europe. She experienced bombing, cities being destroyed and the actual war right in front of her. Primo on the other hand, may have been right in the middle of the wars causes, but he never saw the fighting and the bombs like Missy did. Missy may have had freedom, but she was out in the middle of the battlefield. It is a hard realization to have that Primo could be in a huge Nazi labor camp and not ever really experience World War II from the actual war perspective. He was the war, but never really saw it. He lived a war but it was a different war; his was internal, dangerous and just as life threatening as being on the front lines, but it was almost like all the other fighting was non-existent to his daily battle of life. Another tremendous difference was the format of each book. Berlin Diaries was just that, a diary. Missy wrote what was happening as it was happening. She had no time to reflect on her experiences, she only took account for things as they happened. Survival in Auschwitz was written in retrospect to the war. Primo wrote it as a memoir and had years to reflect on his experiences. He wrote it to read like a story. One can follow his daily life and get a picture of what this hell on earth called Auschwitz was really like. It gives a vivid account of what life, as a Jewish prisoner in a Nazi labor camp, would be like. Berlin Diaries, since it was a diary, makes it harder to get that picture of life. Missy is o...
