De Benedetti had been on Levi's transport from Fossoli, near Modena, Italy.

Both had been left behind when the camp was evacuated and so their time at Auschwitz coincided exactly.

De Benedetti was a medical doctor, though he acted as one only in the final weeks of his time at the camp.

Treatments were rudimentary, medicines were in short supply and the skill of the nurses was minimal.

The book ends with two obituary notices written by Levi about de Benedetti.