History of male circumcision of the glans. Later during the Talmudic period (500–625 CE) a third step, known as "Metzitzah", began to be practiced. In this step the "mohel" would suck the blood from the circumcision wound with his mouth to remove what was believed to be bad excess blood. As it actually increases the likelihood of infections such as tuberculosis and venereal diseases, modern day mohels use a glass tube placed over the infant's penis for suction of the blood. In many Jewish ritual circumcisions this step of Metzitzah has been eliminated. First Maccabees tells us that the Seleucids forbade the practice of
If This Is a Man Mussolini's racial laws. In 1942 he found a position with a Swiss drug company in Milan. With the German occupation of northern and central Italy in 1943, Levi joined a partisan group in Valle d'Aosta in the Alps. He was arrested in December 1943 and transported to Auschwitz in February 1944. He remained there until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945. "If This Is a Man" recounts his experiences in the camp. Levi began to write in February 1946, with a draft of what would become the final chapter recording his most recent memories of Auschwitz. According to