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Limit‐Experiences of Human Life
Tania Oldenhage
in Parables for Our Time: Rereading New Testament Scholarship after the Holocaust
10.1093/019515052X.003.0011
Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter develops a critical reading of what Oldenhage calls the "limit‐rhetoric" in Ricoeur's 1975 essay "Biblical Hermeneutics." Oldenhage points out that during the 1970s the notion of limit ... More
This chapter develops a critical reading of what Oldenhage calls the "limit‐rhetoric" in Ricoeur's 1975 essay "Biblical Hermeneutics." Oldenhage points out that during the 1970s the notion of limit was already becoming a crucial trope within Holocaust literary studies. Focusing on Terrence Des Pres's study of Holocaust testimonies, Oldenhage explores how notions such as "limit‐situation" or "extremity" helped Des Pres to draw attention to the experiences of Holocaust survivors that so far had been ignored or misinterpreted. By cross‐reading the fields of Holocaust studies and New Testament parable studies, Oldenhage raises questions about Ricoeur's deployment of the charged trope of "limit‐experiences" in relation to the parables of Jesus.Less
This chapter develops a critical reading of what Oldenhage calls the "limit‐rhetoric" in Ricoeur's 1975 essay "Biblical Hermeneutics." Oldenhage points out that during the 1970s the notion of limit was already becoming a crucial trope within Holocaust literary studies. Focusing on Terrence Des Pres's study of Holocaust testimonies, Oldenhage explores how notions such as "limit‐situation" or "extremity" helped Des Pres to draw attention to the experiences of Holocaust survivors that so far had been ignored or misinterpreted. By cross‐reading the fields of Holocaust studies and New Testament parable studies, Oldenhage raises questions about Ricoeur's deployment of the charged trope of "limit‐experiences" in relation to the parables of Jesus.
Keywords: rhetoric, Holocaust testimonies, Holocaust survivors, parables of Jesus, biblical hermeneutics, Paul Ricoeur
Emotional Memory in Survivors of the Holocaust: A Qualitative Study of Oral Testimony
Robert N. Kraft
in Memory and Emotion
Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Housed in archives throughout the world are videotaped oral testimonies documenting the memories of individuals who have lived through prolonged ... More
Housed in archives throughout the world are videotaped oral testimonies documenting the memories of individuals who have lived through prolonged trauma. The testimonies in these archives consist of unconstrained recall of personal experiences in the context of larger historical events. The most extensive of these collections have been provided by survivors of the Holocaust. The testimonies in these archives support research in oral history, but they also constitute a valuable resource for cognitive researchers studying memory for traumatic events. This chapter focuses on a particularly important form of emotional memory: memory of the Holocaust by its survivors. How does the sharing (or not sharing) of memories shape the Holocaust survivors' recollection of the event? Archives of Holocaust memories speak powerfully about these issues, and these memories are analyzed in order to explore (among other topics) the general characteristics of traumatic memory, how emotion itself is recalled, and how the recall of a memory can lead to the re-experiencing of emotion.Less
Emotional Memory in Survivors of the Holocaust : A Qualitative Study of Oral Testimony
Housed in archives throughout the world are videotaped oral testimonies documenting the memories of individuals who have lived through prolonged trauma. The testimonies in these archives consist of unconstrained recall of personal experiences in the context of larger historical events. The most extensive of these collections have been provided by survivors of the Holocaust. The testimonies in these archives support research in oral history, but they also constitute a valuable resource for cognitive researchers studying memory for traumatic events. This chapter focuses on a particularly important form of emotional memory: memory of the Holocaust by its survivors. How does the sharing (or not sharing) of memories shape the Holocaust survivors' recollection of the event? Archives of Holocaust memories speak powerfully about these issues, and these memories are analyzed in order to explore (among other topics) the general characteristics of traumatic memory, how emotion itself is recalled, and how the recall of a memory can lead to the re-experiencing of emotion.
Keywords: emotional memory, Holocaust, Holocaust survivors, traumatic memory, recollection, emotion, recall, oral testimonies, trauma
Introduction: Listening to Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors
Arwen Donahue
in This is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak
University Press of Kentucky
10.5810/kentucky/9780813125473.003.0001
This chapter details an event which occurred in May 2005. Hundreds of people were gathered to hear six Holocaust survivors speak. These speakers had come from different states—Louisville, Lexington, ... More
This chapter details an event which occurred in May 2005. Hundreds of people were gathered to hear six Holocaust survivors speak. These speakers had come from different states—Louisville, Lexington, Winchester, Paris, and Prestonburg—for the opening of the exhibit "This is Home Now." Robert Holczer, Ann Klein, Alexander Rosenberg, John Rosenberg, and Oscar Haber were five of the six Holocaust survivors who gave their speeches that night. The chapter also explores the misinformation and outright denial of the Holocaust in the face of Holocaust education in Kentucky. It examines the burdens and benefits of speaking out felt by the six survivors, and also details their life experiences, how they exercised their faith, and how they struggled to make a place where little was familiar home.Less
Introduction : Listening to Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors
This chapter details an event which occurred in May 2005. Hundreds of people were gathered to hear six Holocaust survivors speak. These speakers had come from different states—Louisville, Lexington, Winchester, Paris, and Prestonburg—for the opening of the exhibit "This is Home Now." Robert Holczer, Ann Klein, Alexander Rosenberg, John Rosenberg, and Oscar Haber were five of the six Holocaust survivors who gave their speeches that night. The chapter also explores the misinformation and outright denial of the Holocaust in the face of Holocaust education in Kentucky. It examines the burdens and benefits of speaking out felt by the six survivors, and also details their life experiences, how they exercised their faith, and how they struggled to make a place where little was familiar home.
Keywords: Holocaust survivors, Robert Holczer, Ann Klein, Alexander Rosenberg, John Rosenberg, Oscar Haber, Kentucky, education
"This Is Not What I Want": Holocaust Testimony, Postmemory, and Jewish Identity
Diane L. Wolf
in Diasporas and Exiles: Varieties of Jewish Identity
10.1525/california/9780520228641.003.0009
Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents a case study of a survivor for whom the Shoah is indeed central. The subject is Jake, a Polish Hasid, for whom a bitter taste of galut, rather than an empowering diaspora, is ... More
This chapter presents a case study of a survivor for whom the Shoah is indeed central. The subject is Jake, a Polish Hasid, for whom a bitter taste of galut, rather than an empowering diaspora, is pivotal to his sense of himself as a Jew. It argues that collective memory—the product of the transmission of a group's history and culture from one generation to the next—is crucial to individuals' identities as members of the group and products of its culture and history. Since the Shoah figures centrally in recent Jewish history, it has become a crucial component in the transmitted collective memory. The chapter draws on Jake's postwar life to accomplish two goals. First, to illustrate the difficulties that characterize the lives of many survivors. For Jake the end of the war marked the beginning of injustices created by family members. Second, to demonstrate that the methods used in Spielberg's Shoah Visual History Foundation can undermine the richness of survivors' stories, while perhaps encouraging a Jewish identity based on victimization. A more nuanced oral history, one that examines the reactions of Jewish kin and the Jewish community, might yield a richer set of images.Less
This chapter presents a case study of a survivor for whom the Shoah is indeed central. The subject is Jake, a Polish Hasid, for whom a bitter taste of galut, rather than an empowering diaspora, is pivotal to his sense of himself as a Jew. It argues that collective memory—the product of the transmission of a group's history and culture from one generation to the next—is crucial to individuals' identities as members of the group and products of its culture and history. Since the Shoah figures centrally in recent Jewish history, it has become a crucial component in the transmitted collective memory. The chapter draws on Jake's postwar life to accomplish two goals. First, to illustrate the difficulties that characterize the lives of many survivors. For Jake the end of the war marked the beginning of injustices created by family members. Second, to demonstrate that the methods used in Spielberg's Shoah Visual History Foundation can undermine the richness of survivors' stories, while perhaps encouraging a Jewish identity based on victimization. A more nuanced oral history, one that examines the reactions of Jewish kin and the Jewish community, might yield a richer set of images.
Keywords: Shoah, Jewish identity, Holocaust survivor, galut, collective memory, Jewish history, oral history
Witnessing Witnessing: On the Reception of Holocaust Survivor Testimony
Thomas Trezise
Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Witnessing Witnessing focuses critical attention on those who receive the testimony of Holocaust survivors. Questioning the notion that traumatic experience is intrinsically unspeakable and that the ... More
Witnessing Witnessing focuses critical attention on those who receive the testimony of Holocaust survivors. Questioning the notion that traumatic experience is intrinsically unspeakable and that the Holocaust lies in a quasi-sacred realm beyond history, the book asks whether much current theory does not have the effect of silencing the voices of real historical victims. It thereby challenges widely accepted theoretical views about the representation of trauma in general and the Holocaust in particular as set forth by Giorgio Agamben, Cathy Caruth, Berel Lang, and Dori Laub. It also reconsiders, in the work of Theodor Adorno and Emmanuel Levinas, reflections on ethics and aesthetics after Auschwitz as these pertain to the reception of testimony. Referring at length to videotaped testimony and to texts by Charlotte Delbo, Primo Levi, and Jorge Semprun, the book aims to make these voices heard. In doing so, it clarifies the problems that anyone receiving testimony may encounter and emphasizes the degree to which listening to survivors depends on listening to ourselves and to one another. Witnessing Witnessing seeks to show how, in the situation of address in which Holocaust survivors call upon us, we discover our own tacit assumptions about the nature of community and the very manner in which we practice it.Less
Witnessing Witnessing : On the Reception of Holocaust Survivor Testimony
Witnessing Witnessing focuses critical attention on those who receive the testimony of Holocaust survivors. Questioning the notion that traumatic experience is intrinsically unspeakable and that the Holocaust lies in a quasi-sacred realm beyond history, the book asks whether much current theory does not have the effect of silencing the voices of real historical victims. It thereby challenges widely accepted theoretical views about the representation of trauma in general and the Holocaust in particular as set forth by Giorgio Agamben, Cathy Caruth, Berel Lang, and Dori Laub. It also reconsiders, in the work of Theodor Adorno and Emmanuel Levinas, reflections on ethics and aesthetics after Auschwitz as these pertain to the reception of testimony. Referring at length to videotaped testimony and to texts by Charlotte Delbo, Primo Levi, and Jorge Semprun, the book aims to make these voices heard. In doing so, it clarifies the problems that anyone receiving testimony may encounter and emphasizes the degree to which listening to survivors depends on listening to ourselves and to one another. Witnessing Witnessing seeks to show how, in the situation of address in which Holocaust survivors call upon us, we discover our own tacit assumptions about the nature of community and the very manner in which we practice it.
Keywords: Holocaust survivors, Holocaust testimony, reception, trauma theory, witnessing, Adorno, Delbo, Levi, Levinas, Semprun
Holocaust Narratives and their Impact: Personal Identification and Communal Roles
Hannah Kliger, Bea Hollander-Goldfein, and Emilie S. Passow
in Jewishness: Expression, Identity and Representation
10.3828/liverpool/9781904113454.003.0007
This chapter assesses Holocaust survivors' stories told today not just as witness accounts, but as narratives expressing life stories that become integrated into family identities and are retold by ... More
This chapter assesses Holocaust survivors' stories told today not just as witness accounts, but as narratives expressing life stories that become integrated into family identities and are retold by succeeding generations. For the Jewish historical and cultural narrative, particularly of the last century, the experience of trauma and dislocation is communicated on two levels: as family discourse and as communal oral history. Evyatar Friesel has noted the ways in which the Holocaust affects contemporary Jewish consciousness. Meanwhile, Dan Bar-On describes the interpretative strategies that survivors and their children employ to communicate real and imagined lessons of the Holocaust. From these and other studies, the forms of recording and transmitting the experiences of Jewish Holocaust survivors offer lessons in the modes of adaptation and meaning-making in the aftermath of trauma. Ethnographic and autobiographical materials have thus become rich resources for research devoted to issues of survival and identity, providing an insider's view of the suffering endured by trauma victims as well as the processes by which these ordeals are experienced, incorporated, mediated, constructed, and transcended.Less
Hannah KligerBea Hollander-GoldfeinEmilie S. Passow
This chapter assesses Holocaust survivors' stories told today not just as witness accounts, but as narratives expressing life stories that become integrated into family identities and are retold by succeeding generations. For the Jewish historical and cultural narrative, particularly of the last century, the experience of trauma and dislocation is communicated on two levels: as family discourse and as communal oral history. Evyatar Friesel has noted the ways in which the Holocaust affects contemporary Jewish consciousness. Meanwhile, Dan Bar-On describes the interpretative strategies that survivors and their children employ to communicate real and imagined lessons of the Holocaust. From these and other studies, the forms of recording and transmitting the experiences of Jewish Holocaust survivors offer lessons in the modes of adaptation and meaning-making in the aftermath of trauma. Ethnographic and autobiographical materials have thus become rich resources for research devoted to issues of survival and identity, providing an insider's view of the suffering endured by trauma victims as well as the processes by which these ordeals are experienced, incorporated, mediated, constructed, and transcended.
Keywords: Jewish Holocaust survivors, family identities, trauma, dislocation, family discourse, communal oral history, Holocaust, Jewish consciousness, Jewish historical narrative, Jewish cultural narrative
Justice as Interpersonal
Mona Sue Weissmark
in Justice Matters: Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II
Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter describes the first meeting of Nazis' children and the children of Holocaust survivors through group discussions sponsored by the Harvard ... More
This chapter describes the first meeting of Nazis' children and the children of Holocaust survivors through group discussions sponsored by the Harvard Medical Education Center in an attempt to restore an equal moral relationship between both groups. The facilitator of the program managed the flow of discussion and kept a record of the relevant occurrences through video tape. Part of the data analyses included observable communication patterns, negative socio-emotional responses (withdrawal responses and attack responses) that hinders sharing about past injustices, and evaluation of their interaction during conversations. Overall, the experience was cathartic — participants were able to release most of their bottled tension. Unfortunately, the group discussions did not bring their ideas into any collaborative standpoint and participants remained resistant throughout.Less
This chapter describes the first meeting of Nazis' children and the children of Holocaust survivors through group discussions sponsored by the Harvard Medical Education Center in an attempt to restore an equal moral relationship between both groups. The facilitator of the program managed the flow of discussion and kept a record of the relevant occurrences through video tape. Part of the data analyses included observable communication patterns, negative socio-emotional responses (withdrawal responses and attack responses) that hinders sharing about past injustices, and evaluation of their interaction during conversations. Overall, the experience was cathartic — participants were able to release most of their bottled tension. Unfortunately, the group discussions did not bring their ideas into any collaborative standpoint and participants remained resistant throughout.
Keywords: Nazis, children, Holocaust survivors, group discussions, moral relationship, communication patterns, withdrawal responses, attack responses, past injustices, tension
In Search for Meaning Through Survivors' Memoirs: Intergenerational Healing Processes in Families of Holocaust Survivors in the Israeli Context
Adi Duchin and Hadas Wiseman
in Finding Meaning: An Existential Quest in Post-Modern Israel
The authors studied intergenerational processing and search for meaning in families in which the Holocaust survivor wrote and published a memoir. Survivors' writing of their traumatic narrative and ... More
The authors studied intergenerational processing and search for meaning in families in which the Holocaust survivor wrote and published a memoir. Survivors' writing of their traumatic narrative and the reading encounters of their children and grandchildren involve the search for meaning in passing on the family legacy. Survivor-writers and the second (child) and third (grandchild) generations in 12 Israeli families were interviewed. Qualitative analysis led to identification of two axes: family cohesion surrounding the traumatic narrative and familial communication about Holocaust experiences. Mapping the families along these two axes led to a three intergenerational family types: (1) high family cohesion and open communication, (2) low family cohesion and silence, and (3) partial cohesion and survivor–third generation open communication, with "knowing-not knowing" in the second generation. In the Israeli context, processing the tensions between the overt and covert legacies transmitted through the generations facilitates searching and creating integrated meaning for family members.Less
In Search for Meaning Through Survivors' Memoirs : Intergenerational Healing Processes in Families of Holocaust Survivors in the Israeli Context
Adi DuchinHadas Wiseman
The authors studied intergenerational processing and search for meaning in families in which the Holocaust survivor wrote and published a memoir. Survivors' writing of their traumatic narrative and the reading encounters of their children and grandchildren involve the search for meaning in passing on the family legacy. Survivor-writers and the second (child) and third (grandchild) generations in 12 Israeli families were interviewed. Qualitative analysis led to identification of two axes: family cohesion surrounding the traumatic narrative and familial communication about Holocaust experiences. Mapping the families along these two axes led to a three intergenerational family types: (1) high family cohesion and open communication, (2) low family cohesion and silence, and (3) partial cohesion and survivor–third generation open communication, with "knowing-not knowing" in the second generation. In the Israeli context, processing the tensions between the overt and covert legacies transmitted through the generations facilitates searching and creating integrated meaning for family members.
Keywords: trauma, meaning, Holocaust survivors, intergenerational relations, integrational communication, family cohesion
This is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak
The term "Holocaust survivors" is often associated with Jewish communities in New York City or along Florida's Gold Coast. Traditionally, tales of America's Holocaust survivors, in both individual ... More
The term "Holocaust survivors" is often associated with Jewish communities in New York City or along Florida's Gold Coast. Traditionally, tales of America's Holocaust survivors, in both individual and cultural histories, have focused on places where people fleeing from Nazi atrocities congregated in large numbers for comfort and community following World War II. Yet not all Jewish refugees chose to settle in heavily populated areas of the United States. This book focuses on overlooked stories that unfolded in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It presents the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled not in major metropolitan areas but in southern, often rural, communities. Many of the survivors in these smaller communities did not even seek out the few fellow Jewish residents already there. The book transcribes the accounts as they were heard, keeping true to the voices of those interviewed. Its collection of voices, accompanied by poignant photographs, identifies each storyteller as an American—and as a Kentuckian. Like many others of diverse backgrounds before them, Holocaust survivors joined the "melting pot" as a haven from the suffering in their native lands, but eventually came to regard America as home. Although they speak of atrocities, most often experienced when they were children and unable to fully comprehend the situation, the survivors also emphasize the comfort of acceptance—not just by Jewish communities but also by a state that has long equated "religion" with Christianity alone.Less
This is Home Now : Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak
The term "Holocaust survivors" is often associated with Jewish communities in New York City or along Florida's Gold Coast. Traditionally, tales of America's Holocaust survivors, in both individual and cultural histories, have focused on places where people fleeing from Nazi atrocities congregated in large numbers for comfort and community following World War II. Yet not all Jewish refugees chose to settle in heavily populated areas of the United States. This book focuses on overlooked stories that unfolded in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It presents the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled not in major metropolitan areas but in southern, often rural, communities. Many of the survivors in these smaller communities did not even seek out the few fellow Jewish residents already there. The book transcribes the accounts as they were heard, keeping true to the voices of those interviewed. Its collection of voices, accompanied by poignant photographs, identifies each storyteller as an American—and as a Kentuckian. Like many others of diverse backgrounds before them, Holocaust survivors joined the "melting pot" as a haven from the suffering in their native lands, but eventually came to regard America as home. Although they speak of atrocities, most often experienced when they were children and unable to fully comprehend the situation, the survivors also emphasize the comfort of acceptance—not just by Jewish communities but also by a state that has long equated "religion" with Christianity alone.
Keywords: Holocaust survivors, Jewish community, New York, Nazis, World War II, America, religion
"I Am Other": The Holocaust Survivor's Point of View in Yehudit Hendel's Short Story "They Are Others"
Nurith Gertz
in Divergent Jewish Cultures: Israel and America
10.12987/yale/9780300084269.003.0010
History, Cultural History
This chapter introduces a woman's perspective in order to unravel the gendered dimensions of the process of creating a national identity, uncovering a profound ambivalence animating Yehudit Hendel's ... More
This chapter introduces a woman's perspective in order to unravel the gendered dimensions of the process of creating a national identity, uncovering a profound ambivalence animating Yehudit Hendel's writing on Holocaust survivors. Hendel managed to shatter the hegemonic Zionist mold that depicted partisans and participants in ghetto uprisings as having a faster and easier transition than those who survived the camps. Nevertheless, all European Jews inexorably had to be reconstructed into Israelis in the fictional texts of postwar decades. The chapter reveals that Hendel disrupts such a view by inserting the voice of a survivor into her narrative. Thus, competing accounts vie with each other, reflecting Hendel's own ambivalence and anticipating trends in Israeli culture that ultimately gave primacy to survivors in the 1970s and 1980s. The chapter also discusses that Hendel challenges the articulation of Zionist as male and Jew as female, which dominated the early decades of statehood.Less
This chapter introduces a woman's perspective in order to unravel the gendered dimensions of the process of creating a national identity, uncovering a profound ambivalence animating Yehudit Hendel's writing on Holocaust survivors. Hendel managed to shatter the hegemonic Zionist mold that depicted partisans and participants in ghetto uprisings as having a faster and easier transition than those who survived the camps. Nevertheless, all European Jews inexorably had to be reconstructed into Israelis in the fictional texts of postwar decades. The chapter reveals that Hendel disrupts such a view by inserting the voice of a survivor into her narrative. Thus, competing accounts vie with each other, reflecting Hendel's own ambivalence and anticipating trends in Israeli culture that ultimately gave primacy to survivors in the 1970s and 1980s. The chapter also discusses that Hendel challenges the articulation of Zionist as male and Jew as female, which dominated the early decades of statehood.
Keywords: national identity, Holocaust survivors, European Jews, ambivalence, Zionist
Growing Up in the Shadow of the Past: Second-Generation Holocaust Survivors' Childhoods as Depicted in Israeli Documentary Films
Liat Steir-Livny
in No Small Matter: Features of Jewish Childhood
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Holocaust survivors were represented in Eretz Israeli documentary cinema. In the initial period from 1945 until the 1960s, documentaries, as was the case for ... More
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Holocaust survivors were represented in Eretz Israeli documentary cinema. In the initial period from 1945 until the 1960s, documentaries, as was the case for other facets of Eretz-Israeli/Israeli culture, emphasized the Zionist lessons of the Holocaust and centered on the national collective transformation of Holocaust survivors from "ashes to renewal." Documentaries produced in the 1960s and 1970s began dealing with the Jewish past in the diaspora and with the Holocaust itself in greater depth; by the late 1980s, they were exploring such issues as how survivors dealt with post-trauma and the transgenerational transfer of trauma to survivors' children. This chapter focuses on the representation of second-generation Holocaust survivors in Israeli documentary cinema from the 1980s onwards.Less
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Holocaust survivors were represented in Eretz Israeli documentary cinema. In the initial period from 1945 until the 1960s, documentaries, as was the case for other facets of Eretz-Israeli/Israeli culture, emphasized the Zionist lessons of the Holocaust and centered on the national collective transformation of Holocaust survivors from "ashes to renewal." Documentaries produced in the 1960s and 1970s began dealing with the Jewish past in the diaspora and with the Holocaust itself in greater depth; by the late 1980s, they were exploring such issues as how survivors dealt with post-trauma and the transgenerational transfer of trauma to survivors' children. This chapter focuses on the representation of second-generation Holocaust survivors in Israeli documentary cinema from the 1980s onwards.
Keywords: Second Generation Holocaust Survivors, Holocaust Survivors, Israeli Cinema, Israeli Documentary Cinema, Holocaust Films, Israeli Culture, Holocaust Memory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Transgenerational Transfer of Trauma
Catskills Idyll: Children of Holocaust Survivors and the Bungalow Colony Experience, 1950s–1960s
Hannah Levinsky-Koevary
Since the early part of the 20th century, the Catskill Mountains of New York State (also known as "the Borscht Belt") was famous for its hotels and resorts. This chapter explores a lesser-known ... More
Since the early part of the 20th century, the Catskill Mountains of New York State (also known as "the Borscht Belt") was famous for its hotels and resorts. This chapter explores a lesser-known aspect of the Catskills: the bungalow colonies where thousands of working-class New York Jews spent their summers. Focusing on the experiences of children of Holocaust survivors during the 1950s–1960s (the "golden age" of the Catskills' popularity) it shows how the bungalow colony was not only an enjoyable summer environment, but also an ideal place for children to run free and feel safe, especially those whose parents went through unspeakable horrors during the war. In addition, for survivors whose wartime/Holocaust traumas were still fresh, it was a uniquely relaxing and comfortable setting that served as a means of social and psychological transition to the New World.Less
Since the early part of the 20th century, the Catskill Mountains of New York State (also known as "the Borscht Belt") was famous for its hotels and resorts. This chapter explores a lesser-known aspect of the Catskills: the bungalow colonies where thousands of working-class New York Jews spent their summers. Focusing on the experiences of children of Holocaust survivors during the 1950s–1960s (the "golden age" of the Catskills' popularity) it shows how the bungalow colony was not only an enjoyable summer environment, but also an ideal place for children to run free and feel safe, especially those whose parents went through unspeakable horrors during the war. In addition, for survivors whose wartime/Holocaust traumas were still fresh, it was a uniquely relaxing and comfortable setting that served as a means of social and psychological transition to the New World.
Keywords: Bungalow colony, Catskill Mountains, Children of Holocaust survivors, "second generation", Holocaust survivors, New York Jews, summer vacations, Borscht Belt, Trauma (of Holocaust), 1950s and 1960s
The Journeys of Child Refugees, Lost and Rediscovered
Tony Kushner
in Journeys from the Abyss: The Holocaust and Forced Migration from the 1880s to the Present
Using the concept of place, this chapter explores the child survivors who came to Britain after the end of the war and initially settled in the Lake District. It explores how the heritage of the ... More
Using the concept of place, this chapter explores the child survivors who came to Britain after the end of the war and initially settled in the Lake District. It explores how the heritage of the area, which is dominated by William Wordsworth, both excluded but has recently managed to include the experiences of these children as 'Wandering Jews'. It provides a longer term history of such child refugees by incorporating the experiences of Serbian refugees who were sent to British schools in the First World War and how and why they have subsequently been forgotten. The experiences of the Holocaust survivor children is explored, especially with regard to place identity. Finally the chapter concludes by considering contemporary child migrants with the focus on those who attempt to reach the USA from central America and why concepts such as children's rights has not impacted on their negative treatment,Less
Using the concept of place, this chapter explores the child survivors who came to Britain after the end of the war and initially settled in the Lake District. It explores how the heritage of the area, which is dominated by William Wordsworth, both excluded but has recently managed to include the experiences of these children as 'Wandering Jews'. It provides a longer term history of such child refugees by incorporating the experiences of Serbian refugees who were sent to British schools in the First World War and how and why they have subsequently been forgotten. The experiences of the Holocaust survivor children is explored, especially with regard to place identity. Finally the chapter concludes by considering contemporary child migrants with the focus on those who attempt to reach the USA from central America and why concepts such as children's rights has not impacted on their negative treatment,
Keywords: Rights of the child, Holocaust survivor children, Lake District, William Wordsworth, Place identity, Serbian child refugees, Central American child migrants
A Holocaust Syndrome?: Relations between the Federal Republic and American Jewish Organizations in the 1980s
Jacob S. Eder
in Holocaust Angst: The Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust Memory since the 1970s
History, American History: 20th Century, World Modern History
This chapter examines the relationship between the Kohl government and the American Jewish community during the 1980s. Helmut Kohl wanted to "normalize" West Germans' relationship to the Nazi past. ... More
This chapter examines the relationship between the Kohl government and the American Jewish community during the 1980s. Helmut Kohl wanted to "normalize" West Germans' relationship to the Nazi past. The unprecedented boom in American Holocaust memorial culture, however, challenged such policies, especially with regard to the image of Germany abroad. The chancellor and his closest advisors personally dealt with and reacted to these issues, and they perceived relations with American Jewish organizations as a particular challenge in this context. The chapter explores some of the most contentious episodes of German–Jewish relations during the 1980s, such as the Bitburg controversy and German plans to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, but also explores how German diplomats and politicians at home dealt with American memory of the Holocaust, as well as Jewish organizations and Holocaust survivors in the United States.Less
A Holocaust Syndrome? : Relations between the Federal Republic and American Jewish Organizations in the 1980s
This chapter examines the relationship between the Kohl government and the American Jewish community during the 1980s. Helmut Kohl wanted to "normalize" West Germans' relationship to the Nazi past. The unprecedented boom in American Holocaust memorial culture, however, challenged such policies, especially with regard to the image of Germany abroad. The chancellor and his closest advisors personally dealt with and reacted to these issues, and they perceived relations with American Jewish organizations as a particular challenge in this context. The chapter explores some of the most contentious episodes of German–Jewish relations during the 1980s, such as the Bitburg controversy and German plans to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, but also explores how German diplomats and politicians at home dealt with American memory of the Holocaust, as well as Jewish organizations and Holocaust survivors in the United States.
Keywords: Helmut Kohl, Ronald Reagan, Bitburg, anti-Semitism, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Holocaust survivors, American Jewish Committee, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, politics of history
The Pursuit of Death in Holocaust Narrative
Lawrence L. Longer
in Narrative and Consciousness: Literature, Psychology and the Brain
While autobiographical narratives are often associated with how a certain person has lived his or her life, exploring memories concerning the Holocaust would involve testimonies about death and how ... More
While autobiographical narratives are often associated with how a certain person has lived his or her life, exploring memories concerning the Holocaust would involve testimonies about death and how one was able to survive the various events in the German killings. The subtexts of such Holocaust testimonies exude a theme that seems to be relatively difficult to comprehend and articulate—how several people were undergoing severe sufferings and how many were dying. In this context, therefore, survival is not seen in a negative light, as how one avoids death; but rather in a more positive sense that involves how one is making an effort to stay alive. This chapter looks into how these Holocaust survivors, through recollecting and reflecting upon their experiences, are not just recovering their lives through their narratives but are also realizing how they have been able to escape their death destinies. We look into the various aspects of these testimonies, including the imagery and the consciousness involved.Less
While autobiographical narratives are often associated with how a certain person has lived his or her life, exploring memories concerning the Holocaust would involve testimonies about death and how one was able to survive the various events in the German killings. The subtexts of such Holocaust testimonies exude a theme that seems to be relatively difficult to comprehend and articulate—how several people were undergoing severe sufferings and how many were dying. In this context, therefore, survival is not seen in a negative light, as how one avoids death; but rather in a more positive sense that involves how one is making an effort to stay alive. This chapter looks into how these Holocaust survivors, through recollecting and reflecting upon their experiences, are not just recovering their lives through their narratives but are also realizing how they have been able to escape their death destinies. We look into the various aspects of these testimonies, including the imagery and the consciousness involved.
Keywords: autobiographical narratives, German killings, Holocaust testimonies, Holocaust survivors, imagery, consciousness
'My Song, You Are My Strength': Personal Repertoires of Polish and Yiddish Songs of Young Survivors of the Łódz Ghetto
Joseph D. Toltz
in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 32: Jews and Music-Making in the Polish Lands
This chapter investigates the songs in Yiddish and Polish remembered by survivors of the łódz ghetto. It draws on interviews with two teenage survivors of the łódz ghetto who settled in Australia ... More
This chapter investigates the songs in Yiddish and Polish remembered by survivors of the łódz ghetto. It draws on interviews with two teenage survivors of the łódz ghetto who settled in Australia after the war in order to document and preserve personal musical experiences and memories of Jewish Holocaust survivors. It also references long and established literatures on examining witnesses and testifiers in Holocaust and trauma studies that speaks at length of delicate dynamics and ethical responsibilities of representation. The chapter analyzes the claim that sonic experiences remain in memories of people and travel with them throughout their lives, providing moments of nostalgia, evocations of past connections, ties to culture, friends, and family, and frames of reference. It explains how memories of dark, distant, and problematic times are enabled and returned to resonate in the present lives of testifiers and witnesses.Less
'My Song, You Are My Strength' : Personal Repertoires of Polish and Yiddish Songs of Young Survivors of the Łódz Ghetto
This chapter investigates the songs in Yiddish and Polish remembered by survivors of the łódz ghetto. It draws on interviews with two teenage survivors of the łódz ghetto who settled in Australia after the war in order to document and preserve personal musical experiences and memories of Jewish Holocaust survivors. It also references long and established literatures on examining witnesses and testifiers in Holocaust and trauma studies that speaks at length of delicate dynamics and ethical responsibilities of representation. The chapter analyzes the claim that sonic experiences remain in memories of people and travel with them throughout their lives, providing moments of nostalgia, evocations of past connections, ties to culture, friends, and family, and frames of reference. It explains how memories of dark, distant, and problematic times are enabled and returned to resonate in the present lives of testifiers and witnesses.
Keywords: łódz ghetto, Australia, Jewish Holocaust survivors, trauma studies, sonic experiences
The Revival of Jewish Life
Jonathan Webber, Chris Schwarz, and Jason Francisco
in Rediscovering Traces of Memory: The Jewish Heritage of Polish Galicia
This chapter talks about the people who are creating and maintaining projects that memorialize both the Jewish life that existed in Polish Galicia for centuries and the enormity of the Holocaust ... More
This chapter talks about the people who are creating and maintaining projects that memorialize both the Jewish life that existed in Polish Galicia for centuries and the enormity of the Holocaust during which it was destroyed. It discloses the public acknowledgment of the Jewish heritage that has been ongoing since Poland regained its democratic freedom in 1989, which led to the revival of Jewish life. It also describes the main Holocaust memorial in Kraków, which is comprised of symbolic abandoned chairs scattered through an entire city to highlight the Jewish absence. The chapter mentions non-Jewish Poles who have become aware of the past in Poland that included Jews and Jewish culture. It details post-Holocaust Poland in the 1970s that was severely restricted and in danger of facing extinction as 90 percent of Holocaust survivors had emigrated.Less
Jonathan WebberChris SchwarzJason Francisco
This chapter talks about the people who are creating and maintaining projects that memorialize both the Jewish life that existed in Polish Galicia for centuries and the enormity of the Holocaust during which it was destroyed. It discloses the public acknowledgment of the Jewish heritage that has been ongoing since Poland regained its democratic freedom in 1989, which led to the revival of Jewish life. It also describes the main Holocaust memorial in Kraków, which is comprised of symbolic abandoned chairs scattered through an entire city to highlight the Jewish absence. The chapter mentions non-Jewish Poles who have become aware of the past in Poland that included Jews and Jewish culture. It details post-Holocaust Poland in the 1970s that was severely restricted and in danger of facing extinction as 90 percent of Holocaust survivors had emigrated.
Keywords: Jewish life, Polish Galicia, Jewish heritage, Poland, Holocaust survivors, Kraków, Jewish culture
Suicides of German Jews, 1933–1945
Christian Goeschel
in Suicide in Nazi Germany
History, European Modern History, Social History
In the Third Reich, suicide became a routine phenomenon among German Jews. This chapter concentrates on Nazi Germany, but also goes beyond the confines of the Third Reich: to exile, to Auschwitz, and ... More
In the Third Reich, suicide became a routine phenomenon among German Jews. This chapter concentrates on Nazi Germany, but also goes beyond the confines of the Third Reich: to exile, to Auschwitz, and to later times. It focuses on German-Jewish suicides during the Third Reich and analyses the links between Nazi racial policy and German-Jewish suicides. There is a rich literature on the suicides of prominent Holocaust survivors, such as Paul Celan, Primo Levi, and Bruno Bettelheim, who killed themselves decades after the final solution. This chapter primarily concerns the social and political context of German-Jewish suicides and their individual motives, using hitherto neglected archival sources, including suicide notes of German Jews. It also asks how far, if at all, Jewish suicide was a form of resistance towards Nazism, or how far, on the other hand, it was an act of despair and hopelessness.Less
In the Third Reich, suicide became a routine phenomenon among German Jews. This chapter concentrates on Nazi Germany, but also goes beyond the confines of the Third Reich: to exile, to Auschwitz, and to later times. It focuses on German-Jewish suicides during the Third Reich and analyses the links between Nazi racial policy and German-Jewish suicides. There is a rich literature on the suicides of prominent Holocaust survivors, such as Paul Celan, Primo Levi, and Bruno Bettelheim, who killed themselves decades after the final solution. This chapter primarily concerns the social and political context of German-Jewish suicides and their individual motives, using hitherto neglected archival sources, including suicide notes of German Jews. It also asks how far, if at all, Jewish suicide was a form of resistance towards Nazism, or how far, on the other hand, it was an act of despair and hopelessness.
Keywords: German Jews, Nazi Germany, Holocaust survivors, suicide notes, exile, racial policy, resistance, Nazism
Hannah Pollin-Galay, Ecologies of Witnessing: Language, Place, and Holocaust Testimony. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. 335 pp.
Anat Helman (ed.)
This chapter focuses on Hannah Pollin-Galay's Ecologies of Witnessing: Language, Place, and Holocaust Testimony (2018), a watershed book exploring the connection between place and historical ... More
This chapter focuses on Hannah Pollin-Galay's Ecologies of Witnessing: Language, Place, and Holocaust Testimony (2018), a watershed book exploring the connection between place and historical imagination in Holocaust testimony. In this book, she contextualizes the differences between the personal narratives of Lithuanian Jews who remained in Lithuania and those who immigrated to Israel or the United States. Pollin-Galay does not merely compare the situational variances of the different places; in addition, she addresses the nuances in the language in which survivors gave their testimony — English, Hebrew, or Yiddish. She also probes numerous topics raised by the interviewees, including relationships, community, justice, and how the survivor self was transformed as a result of dehumanization, persecution, and multiple losses. Analysis of these variables is illustrated with poignant and, at times, heart-wrenching narratives drawn from the interviews.Less
This chapter focuses on Hannah Pollin-Galay's Ecologies of Witnessing: Language, Place, and Holocaust Testimony (2018), a watershed book exploring the connection between place and historical imagination in Holocaust testimony. In this book, she contextualizes the differences between the personal narratives of Lithuanian Jews who remained in Lithuania and those who immigrated to Israel or the United States. Pollin-Galay does not merely compare the situational variances of the different places; in addition, she addresses the nuances in the language in which survivors gave their testimony — English, Hebrew, or Yiddish. She also probes numerous topics raised by the interviewees, including relationships, community, justice, and how the survivor self was transformed as a result of dehumanization, persecution, and multiple losses. Analysis of these variables is illustrated with poignant and, at times, heart-wrenching narratives drawn from the interviews.
Keywords: Hannah Pollin-Galay, Holocaust testimony, personal narratives, Lithuanian Jews, Holocaust survivors, survivor self, dehumanization, persecution
Arnost Lustig Children of the Holocaust: (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1995); pp. 516
Michael Greenstein
in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 11: Focusing on Aspects and Experiences of Religion
This chapter reviews Arnost Lustig's Children of the Holocaust. Children of the Holocaust brings together two earlier collections of short stories, Night and Hope and Diamonds of the Night, as well ... More
This chapter reviews Arnost Lustig's Children of the Holocaust. Children of the Holocaust brings together two earlier collections of short stories, Night and Hope and Diamonds of the Night, as well as a novella, Darkness Casts no Shadow. As these titles indicate, Lustig thrusts his readers into a world of perpetual darkness with only the slightest glimmer of light. That dim flicker of hope resides in the survivor's memorial candle, for that alone puts an end to the Nazis' years of terror, brutality, and torture that run through every page of Lustig's writing. Each of Lustig's stories tears at the flesh of character and reader: his fiction provides the phenomenology for understanding the reality of the history of the Holocaust.Less
Arnost Lustig Children of the Holocaust : (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1995); pp. 516
This chapter reviews Arnost Lustig's Children of the Holocaust. Children of the Holocaust brings together two earlier collections of short stories, Night and Hope and Diamonds of the Night, as well as a novella, Darkness Casts no Shadow. As these titles indicate, Lustig thrusts his readers into a world of perpetual darkness with only the slightest glimmer of light. That dim flicker of hope resides in the survivor's memorial candle, for that alone puts an end to the Nazis' years of terror, brutality, and torture that run through every page of Lustig's writing. Each of Lustig's stories tears at the flesh of character and reader: his fiction provides the phenomenology for understanding the reality of the history of the Holocaust.
Keywords: Arnost Lustig, Children of the Holocaust, short stories, Holocaust survivors, Jewish survivors, Nazis, Holocaust