Editing Primo Levi (section)

=== Chemistry ===
Because of the new racial laws and the increasing intensity of Fascist action, Levi had difficulty finding an advisor for his Ph.D. dissertation, which was on the subject of the [[Walden inversion]], a study of the asymmetry of the [[carbon]] atom. Eventually taken on by Dr. Nicolò Dallaporta, Levi graduated in mid-1941 with full marks and merit, having submitted additional theses on [[x-ray]]s and [[electric potential energy|electrostatic energy]]. His degree certificate bore the remark: "of Jewish race". The racial laws prevented Levi from finding a suitable permanent job after graduation.<ref name=":1" />

In December 1941, he received an informal job offer from an Italian officer to work as a chemist at an [[asbestos]] mine in [[Balangero|San Vittore]]. The project was to extract [[nickel]] from the mine spoil, a challenge he accepted with pleasure. Levi later understood that, if successful, he would be aiding the German war effort, which was suffering nickel shortages in the production of armaments.<ref>Angier p. 174.</ref> The job required Levi to work under a false name with false papers. Three months later, in March 1942, his father died. Levi left the mine in June to work in [[Milan]] for the Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer [[Wander AG]], on a project to extract an anti-diabetic from vegetable matter. Recruited through a fellow student at Turin University, he took the job in a Swiss company to escape the Italian race laws. It soon became clear that the project had no chance of succeeding, but it was in no-one's interest to say so.<ref>Thomson p 119.</ref>

In July 1943, King [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|Victor Emmanuel III]] deposed Mussolini and appointed a new government under Marshal [[Pietro Badoglio]], which prepared to sign the [[Armistice of Cassibile]] with the Allies. When the armistice was made public on 8 September, the Germans occupied northern and central Italy, [[Gran Sasso raid|liberated Mussolini from imprisonment]], and appointed him as head of the [[Italian Social Republic]], a [[puppet state]] in German-occupied northern Italy. Levi returned to Turin to find his mother and sister in refuge in their holiday home called 'Lo Saccarello' (literally, the Sackcloth) in the village of [[Chieri]] in the hills outside Turin. The three moved to [[Saint-Vincent, Italy|Saint-Vincent]] in the [[Aosta Valley]], where they could be hidden. Being pursued as Jews, many of whom had already been interned by the authorities, they moved up the hillside to Amay in the {{Interlanguage link|Col de Joux|it}}, a rebellious area highly suitable for [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] activities.<ref>Peter Thomson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FKTBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 ''Primo Levi''] [[Random House]], (2003) 2019   {{isbn|978-1-448-18073-8}} pp. 135–136</ref>