Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The views of various American liberal intellectuals and Jewish writers on the Nazi death camps are discussed, starting with Lionel Trilling, a postwar New York literary critic, who addressed the ...
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The views of various American liberal intellectuals and Jewish writers on the Nazi death camps are discussed, starting with Lionel Trilling, a postwar New York literary critic, who addressed the issue of the death of the novel and the impotence of the mind in relation to the horror of the Nazi camps. The main part of the chapter is devoted to a discussion of the testimonies of three death camp survivors – Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, and Jean Améry. Levi's viewpoint of the camps is not that of a religious Jew, but as a scientist and secular humanist, and he discusses the fact that normal prisoners (like Wiesel and Améry) were perhaps not in the best position to report on the camps, while those who held privileged positions (like himself) perhaps were.Less
The views of various American liberal intellectuals and Jewish writers on the Nazi death camps are discussed, starting with Lionel Trilling, a postwar New York literary critic, who addressed the issue of the death of the novel and the impotence of the mind in relation to the horror of the Nazi camps. The main part of the chapter is devoted to a discussion of the testimonies of three death camp survivors – Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, and Jean Améry. Levi's viewpoint of the camps is not that of a religious Jew, but as a scientist and secular humanist, and he discusses the fact that normal prisoners (like Wiesel and Améry) were perhaps not in the best position to report on the camps, while those who held privileged positions (like himself) perhaps were.
Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
From 1945 to 1965, the Holocaust and the Nazi destruction of European Jewry came to occupy the attention of a small number of intellectuals whose work would have a significant impact on ...
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From 1945 to 1965, the Holocaust and the Nazi destruction of European Jewry came to occupy the attention of a small number of intellectuals whose work would have a significant impact on post‐Holocaust Jewish thought. One of the most important, Raul Hilberg, was a political scientist by training, but his work was primarily historical; The Destruction of the European Jews, which appeared in 1961, meticulously examined the destruction process, but this massive and detailed work was rarely read. The most influential books were those of Hannah Arendt, Elie Wiesel, and Primo Levi; these writers provided powerful, important views of the death camps and the Nazi horrors, and they also introduced modes of discourse for describing and discussing the crimes perpetrated, the criminals, and the victims. This chapter is primarily devoted to a study of Arendt's examination of Nazism and totalitarianism, published in articles in the 1940s, and culminating in her tremendously important hook, The Origins of Totalitarianism, in 1951; discussion of various critiques of her work is also included. The writings of Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi are discussed in the next chapter.Less
From 1945 to 1965, the Holocaust and the Nazi destruction of European Jewry came to occupy the attention of a small number of intellectuals whose work would have a significant impact on post‐Holocaust Jewish thought. One of the most important, Raul Hilberg, was a political scientist by training, but his work was primarily historical; The Destruction of the European Jews, which appeared in 1961, meticulously examined the destruction process, but this massive and detailed work was rarely read. The most influential books were those of Hannah Arendt, Elie Wiesel, and Primo Levi; these writers provided powerful, important views of the death camps and the Nazi horrors, and they also introduced modes of discourse for describing and discussing the crimes perpetrated, the criminals, and the victims. This chapter is primarily devoted to a study of Arendt's examination of Nazism and totalitarianism, published in articles in the 1940s, and culminating in her tremendously important hook, The Origins of Totalitarianism, in 1951; discussion of various critiques of her work is also included. The writings of Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi are discussed in the next chapter.
Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this chapter, and in the next four, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Richard ...
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In this chapter, and in the next four, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Richard Rubinstein, a prominent Jewish theologian, but not institutionally tied to one of the denominations of American Judaism; he was a Hillel rabbi and then an academic. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to a honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.Less
In this chapter, and in the next four, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Richard Rubinstein, a prominent Jewish theologian, but not institutionally tied to one of the denominations of American Judaism; he was a Hillel rabbi and then an academic. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to a honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.
Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–9, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Emil Fackenheim, a ...
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In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–9, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Emil Fackenheim, a Jewish theologian and philosopher, who has radically changed his thinking since 1967. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.Less
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–9, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Emil Fackenheim, a Jewish theologian and philosopher, who has radically changed his thinking since 1967. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.
Jürgen Matthäus (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195389159
- eISBN:
- 9780199866694
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195389159.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Historiography
Presenting a new departure on Holocaust testimony, this book combines analytical reflections by scholars from different backgrounds on the post-war memories of one survivor, Helen “Zippi” Tichauer. ...
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Presenting a new departure on Holocaust testimony, this book combines analytical reflections by scholars from different backgrounds on the post-war memories of one survivor, Helen “Zippi” Tichauer. Born in Bratislava in 1918, she came to Auschwitz in spring 1942 in the second transport of Jewish women from Slovakia, and was one of the few early arrivals who survived Auschwitz and its evacuation. Against the background of Zippi's early post-war and later memories, this book raises key questions on the meaning and usages of survivor testimony. What do we know and how much can we understand, sixty years after the end of the Nazi era, about the workings of a Nazi death camp and the life of its inmates? How willing are scholars, students and the public to listen to and learn from the fascinating, yet often unwieldy, confusing, and discomforting experiences of a Holocaust survivor? How can those experiences be communicated to teach and educate without undue simplification and glossing over of problematic aspects inherent in both, the life stories and their current rendering? Written by expert Holocaust scholars, this book presents a new, multi-faceted approach toward Zippi's unique story combined with the analysis of key aspects of Holocaust memory, its forms and functions.Less
Presenting a new departure on Holocaust testimony, this book combines analytical reflections by scholars from different backgrounds on the post-war memories of one survivor, Helen “Zippi” Tichauer. Born in Bratislava in 1918, she came to Auschwitz in spring 1942 in the second transport of Jewish women from Slovakia, and was one of the few early arrivals who survived Auschwitz and its evacuation. Against the background of Zippi's early post-war and later memories, this book raises key questions on the meaning and usages of survivor testimony. What do we know and how much can we understand, sixty years after the end of the Nazi era, about the workings of a Nazi death camp and the life of its inmates? How willing are scholars, students and the public to listen to and learn from the fascinating, yet often unwieldy, confusing, and discomforting experiences of a Holocaust survivor? How can those experiences be communicated to teach and educate without undue simplification and glossing over of problematic aspects inherent in both, the life stories and their current rendering? Written by expert Holocaust scholars, this book presents a new, multi-faceted approach toward Zippi's unique story combined with the analysis of key aspects of Holocaust memory, its forms and functions.
Keith Gandal
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195338911
- eISBN:
- 9780199867127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195338911.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory, American, 20th Century Literature
When anti-Semitism becomes untenable after the Holocaust is revealed toward the end of World War II, Faulkner himself revises The Sound and the Fury in an Appendix that strikingly demonizes his once ...
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When anti-Semitism becomes untenable after the Holocaust is revealed toward the end of World War II, Faulkner himself revises The Sound and the Fury in an Appendix that strikingly demonizes his once beloved promiscuous heroine Caddy. He has her become involved with a German officer in Paris during World War II, and he does so in 1945 and 1946, just as the American public is reeling from the revelation of Nazi “death camps.” Thus, Faulkner's Appendix marks an end to the modernist promiscuity novel: with it, Faulkner distances himself from the casual anti-Semitism of his 1929 text and from a female sexual freedom he seemed to embrace or tolerate in Caddy. The outlook of the Appendix, with regard to women, dovetails with that of the military in the world wars. The Appendix is part of a growing backlash against the new woman of the post-World War I era; the promiscuous female is once again, as in the vamp story that became popular in the 1910s, a fiend.Less
When anti-Semitism becomes untenable after the Holocaust is revealed toward the end of World War II, Faulkner himself revises The Sound and the Fury in an Appendix that strikingly demonizes his once beloved promiscuous heroine Caddy. He has her become involved with a German officer in Paris during World War II, and he does so in 1945 and 1946, just as the American public is reeling from the revelation of Nazi “death camps.” Thus, Faulkner's Appendix marks an end to the modernist promiscuity novel: with it, Faulkner distances himself from the casual anti-Semitism of his 1929 text and from a female sexual freedom he seemed to embrace or tolerate in Caddy. The outlook of the Appendix, with regard to women, dovetails with that of the military in the world wars. The Appendix is part of a growing backlash against the new woman of the post-World War I era; the promiscuous female is once again, as in the vamp story that became popular in the 1910s, a fiend.
Maurizio Cinquegrani
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781474403573
- eISBN:
- 9781474453592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474403573.003.0007
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter focuses on two death camps, Treblinka and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and on documentaries filmed on these locations. Differences between the two places, with the disappearance of Treblinka ...
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This chapter focuses on two death camps, Treblinka and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and on documentaries filmed on these locations. Differences between the two places, with the disappearance of Treblinka and the persistence of Auschwitz, are discussed in relation to documentaries bringing survivors and members of the postgeneration back to these places. The chapter also addresses rebellion and uprisings in these death camps.Less
This chapter focuses on two death camps, Treblinka and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and on documentaries filmed on these locations. Differences between the two places, with the disappearance of Treblinka and the persistence of Auschwitz, are discussed in relation to documentaries bringing survivors and members of the postgeneration back to these places. The chapter also addresses rebellion and uprisings in these death camps.
Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–8, and 10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Arthur Cohen, ...
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In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–8, and 10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Arthur Cohen, a prominent Jewish theologian, but not institutionally tied to one of the denominations of American Judaism; he was an editor and a novelist. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.Less
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–8, and 10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Arthur Cohen, a prominent Jewish theologian, but not institutionally tied to one of the denominations of American Judaism; he was an editor and a novelist. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.
Claudia Card
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195145083
- eISBN:
- 9780199833115
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195145089.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter proposes, and illustrates, with the idea of gray zones, a more historically accurate conception of diabolical evil than the one rejected by Kant: the deliberate and successful pursuit of ...
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This chapter proposes, and illustrates, with the idea of gray zones, a more historically accurate conception of diabolical evil than the one rejected by Kant: the deliberate and successful pursuit of others’ moral corruption (as the serpent of Genesis does with Eve), rather than evil for evil's sake (Kant's view). Primo Levi described as “gray zones” the predicaments of prisoners in Nazi death camps who were selected to administer evils to other prisoners in exchange for reductions in or postponements of their own torture and who thereby faced choices between extreme suffering (or immediate and horrible death) and serious moral compromise; the deliberate creation of gray zones, this chapter argues, is a paradigm of diabolical evil. People in gray zones are forced to risk moral corruption in becoming implicated, by their own choices, in perpetrating on others’ evils that threaten to engulf themselves. Gray zones are marked by the presence of severe duress, combinations of evil and innocence, and lack of clarity of one's responsibilities, one's motivations, or what is morally justifiable, given one's options. Outsiders may be in no position to judge gray zone agents, but insiders face better and worse choices and sometimes hold each other accountable; refusing to abdicate responsibility for one's choices in a gray zone works to disrupt cycles of evil.Less
This chapter proposes, and illustrates, with the idea of gray zones, a more historically accurate conception of diabolical evil than the one rejected by Kant: the deliberate and successful pursuit of others’ moral corruption (as the serpent of Genesis does with Eve), rather than evil for evil's sake (Kant's view). Primo Levi described as “gray zones” the predicaments of prisoners in Nazi death camps who were selected to administer evils to other prisoners in exchange for reductions in or postponements of their own torture and who thereby faced choices between extreme suffering (or immediate and horrible death) and serious moral compromise; the deliberate creation of gray zones, this chapter argues, is a paradigm of diabolical evil. People in gray zones are forced to risk moral corruption in becoming implicated, by their own choices, in perpetrating on others’ evils that threaten to engulf themselves. Gray zones are marked by the presence of severe duress, combinations of evil and innocence, and lack of clarity of one's responsibilities, one's motivations, or what is morally justifiable, given one's options. Outsiders may be in no position to judge gray zone agents, but insiders face better and worse choices and sometimes hold each other accountable; refusing to abdicate responsibility for one's choices in a gray zone works to disrupt cycles of evil.
Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6, and 8–10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Eliezer ...
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In this chapter, and in Chs. 6, and 8–10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Eliezer Berkovits, an orthodox Jewish theologian and philosopher. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.Less
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6, and 8–10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Eliezer Berkovits, an orthodox Jewish theologian and philosopher. Citations of each thinker's work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.
Michael L. Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148626
- eISBN:
- 9780199870011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148622.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–7, and 9–10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Irving ...
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In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–7, and 9–10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Irving Greenberg, an orthodox rabbi and deeply traditional figure, but also a bold and radical Jewish thinker. Citations of each thinkers work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.Less
In this chapter, and in Chs. 6–7, and 9–10, an analysis and examination is made of the writings of the major American Jewish thinkers/theologians. The thinker addressed in this chapter is Irving Greenberg, an orthodox rabbi and deeply traditional figure, but also a bold and radical Jewish thinker. Citations of each thinkers work earlier in the book are capitalized on in order to explore the theme of history and identity as it occurs in their work, and it is shown that these figures struggled with very deep and pressing problems not only about God and the Jewish people, and about human nature and moral purpose but also about the very nature of Jewish belief and its understanding of the world, history, God, and much else. They realized the dangers that accompanied their sensitivity to the Holocaust and their unconditional commitment to an honest and probing encounter with the death camps, and at the same time, they refused to abandon Judaism. In some ways, they appear like other intellectuals of the current era, who realize that we cannot transcend history nor can we be overwhelmed by it, but in other ways, they appear unlike them, for their sense of value and purpose arises out of the horror of the death camps.
Levene Mark
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199683048
- eISBN:
- 9780191763137
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199683048.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Cultural History
This chapter charts the sequence of Jewish and Roma mass killing from Operation Barbarossa in 1941 through to the collapse of the Hitler state in 1945. It follows the pattern of killing both in the ...
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This chapter charts the sequence of Jewish and Roma mass killing from Operation Barbarossa in 1941 through to the collapse of the Hitler state in 1945. It follows the pattern of killing both in the Balkans and Soviet Russia, proposing that these represented a series of genocides, rather than simply one monolithic Holocaust. Nevertheless, by degrees, associated with the failure of Hitler's ultimate geopolitical goals, this extended into a comprehensive Europe-wide deportation of Jews to dedicated death camps in the rimlands. The chapter considers these camps, most infamously Auschwitz, and asks whether this relentless mass killing was a 'system' in its own right and the degree to which this embraced the Roma. It concludes by interrogating the erratic and problematic winding down of mass murder as Himmler covertly attempted to link the 'Jewish question' with his unsuccessful efforts to make a separate peace with the Western Allies.Less
This chapter charts the sequence of Jewish and Roma mass killing from Operation Barbarossa in 1941 through to the collapse of the Hitler state in 1945. It follows the pattern of killing both in the Balkans and Soviet Russia, proposing that these represented a series of genocides, rather than simply one monolithic Holocaust. Nevertheless, by degrees, associated with the failure of Hitler's ultimate geopolitical goals, this extended into a comprehensive Europe-wide deportation of Jews to dedicated death camps in the rimlands. The chapter considers these camps, most infamously Auschwitz, and asks whether this relentless mass killing was a 'system' in its own right and the degree to which this embraced the Roma. It concludes by interrogating the erratic and problematic winding down of mass murder as Himmler covertly attempted to link the 'Jewish question' with his unsuccessful efforts to make a separate peace with the Western Allies.
Patrick Montague
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807835272
- eISBN:
- 9781469601854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807869413_montague.9
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
Herbert Lange chose Chełmno as the site to establish a death camp because it was centrally positioned in relation to the Jewish population of the Warthegau. Located some 60 kilometers northwest of ...
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Herbert Lange chose Chełmno as the site to establish a death camp because it was centrally positioned in relation to the Jewish population of the Warthegau. Located some 60 kilometers northwest of Łodź, Chełmno is situated in a bend of the highway between Dąbie, six kilometers to the south, and Koło. This chapter discusses the establishment of the Chełmno camp, beginning with the arrival of the Sonderkommando to Chełmno, the construction of the camp, and the arrival of the first transport of victims. The extermination process began in early December 1941 with the liquidation of the Jewish populations of surrounding towns and villages. Among the first to be exterminated in Chełmno came directly from the Łodź ghetto, the second largest Jewish ghetto.Less
Herbert Lange chose Chełmno as the site to establish a death camp because it was centrally positioned in relation to the Jewish population of the Warthegau. Located some 60 kilometers northwest of Łodź, Chełmno is situated in a bend of the highway between Dąbie, six kilometers to the south, and Koło. This chapter discusses the establishment of the Chełmno camp, beginning with the arrival of the Sonderkommando to Chełmno, the construction of the camp, and the arrival of the first transport of victims. The extermination process began in early December 1941 with the liquidation of the Jewish populations of surrounding towns and villages. Among the first to be exterminated in Chełmno came directly from the Łodź ghetto, the second largest Jewish ghetto.
James P. Brennan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520297913
- eISBN:
- 9780520970076
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520297913.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Some 400 detention centers existed throughout Argentina during the dictatorship and of these there were half a dozen death camps, including the largest of the interior, La Perla, found on the ...
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Some 400 detention centers existed throughout Argentina during the dictatorship and of these there were half a dozen death camps, including the largest of the interior, La Perla, found on the outskirts of Córdoba. The death camp was the dictatorship’s most emblematic institution. Political prisoners were brought there, tortured, and most were killed. The camp functioned as a site of “waste disposal” a biopolitics different from the Nazi concentration camp. Tensions, cruelty, and occasional acts of heroism and humanity characterized the internal life of the camp.Less
Some 400 detention centers existed throughout Argentina during the dictatorship and of these there were half a dozen death camps, including the largest of the interior, La Perla, found on the outskirts of Córdoba. The death camp was the dictatorship’s most emblematic institution. Political prisoners were brought there, tortured, and most were killed. The camp functioned as a site of “waste disposal” a biopolitics different from the Nazi concentration camp. Tensions, cruelty, and occasional acts of heroism and humanity characterized the internal life of the camp.
Patrick Montague
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807835272
- eISBN:
- 9781469601854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807869413_montague.7
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This book sheds light on the little known but crucial chapter of the Holocaust with respect to concentration camps or extermination centers. Focusing on the Chełmno camp, it attempts to clarify ...
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This book sheds light on the little known but crucial chapter of the Holocaust with respect to concentration camps or extermination centers. Focusing on the Chełmno camp, it attempts to clarify misconceptions that surround the history of the death camp. Because of insufficient published research on the Chełmno death camp, the book introduces important sources that can provide a fuller understanding of Chełmno. These sources include eyewitness testimonies of camp staff, Jewish prisoners, and local residents; documents such as camp records, the Polish government's investigation of the Chełmno extermination camp, and academic and scholarly studies, research projects, personal memoirs, and fiction based on a meeting with a survivor of Chełmno.Less
This book sheds light on the little known but crucial chapter of the Holocaust with respect to concentration camps or extermination centers. Focusing on the Chełmno camp, it attempts to clarify misconceptions that surround the history of the death camp. Because of insufficient published research on the Chełmno death camp, the book introduces important sources that can provide a fuller understanding of Chełmno. These sources include eyewitness testimonies of camp staff, Jewish prisoners, and local residents; documents such as camp records, the Polish government's investigation of the Chełmno extermination camp, and academic and scholarly studies, research projects, personal memoirs, and fiction based on a meeting with a survivor of Chełmno.
Gideon Greif
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106510
- eISBN:
- 9780300131987
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106510.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The Sonderkommando of Auschwitz-Birkenau consisted primarily of Jewish prisoners forced by the Germans to facilitate the mass extermination. Though never involved in the killing itself, they were ...
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The Sonderkommando of Auschwitz-Birkenau consisted primarily of Jewish prisoners forced by the Germans to facilitate the mass extermination. Though never involved in the killing itself, they were compelled to be “members of staff” of the Nazi death-factory. This book, translated into English from its original Hebrew, consists of interviews with the very few surviving men who witnessed at first hand the unparalleled horror of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Some of these men had never spoken of their experiences before. Over a period of years, the author interviewed intensively all Sonderkommando survivors living in Israel. They describe not only the details of the German-Nazi killing program but also the moral and human challenges they faced. The book provides direct testimony about the “Final Solution of the Jewish Problem,” but it is also a unique document on the boundless cruelty and deceit practiced by the Germans. It documents the helplessness and powerlessness of the 1.5 million people, 90 percent of them Jews, who were brutally murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.Less
The Sonderkommando of Auschwitz-Birkenau consisted primarily of Jewish prisoners forced by the Germans to facilitate the mass extermination. Though never involved in the killing itself, they were compelled to be “members of staff” of the Nazi death-factory. This book, translated into English from its original Hebrew, consists of interviews with the very few surviving men who witnessed at first hand the unparalleled horror of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Some of these men had never spoken of their experiences before. Over a period of years, the author interviewed intensively all Sonderkommando survivors living in Israel. They describe not only the details of the German-Nazi killing program but also the moral and human challenges they faced. The book provides direct testimony about the “Final Solution of the Jewish Problem,” but it is also a unique document on the boundless cruelty and deceit practiced by the Germans. It documents the helplessness and powerlessness of the 1.5 million people, 90 percent of them Jews, who were brutally murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Patrick Montague
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807835272
- eISBN:
- 9781469601854
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807869413_montague
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
As the first extermination camp established by the Nazi regime and the prototype of the single-purpose death camps of Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec, the Chełmno death camp stands as a crucial but ...
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As the first extermination camp established by the Nazi regime and the prototype of the single-purpose death camps of Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec, the Chełmno death camp stands as a crucial but largely unexplored element of the Holocaust. This book is a comprehensive work that details all aspects of the camp's history, organization, and operations, and to remedy the dearth of information in Holocaust literature about Chełmno, which served as a template for the Nazis' “Final Solution.” It reveals events leading to the establishment of the camp, how the mobile killing squad employed the world's first gas van to terminate the lives of mentally ill patients, and the assembly-line procedure employed in the camp to commit genocide on the Jewish population. Based on over 20 years of careful research, the book provides a single-volume history of the camp and its handful of survivors, and includes previously unpublished first-hand accounts and photographs.Less
As the first extermination camp established by the Nazi regime and the prototype of the single-purpose death camps of Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec, the Chełmno death camp stands as a crucial but largely unexplored element of the Holocaust. This book is a comprehensive work that details all aspects of the camp's history, organization, and operations, and to remedy the dearth of information in Holocaust literature about Chełmno, which served as a template for the Nazis' “Final Solution.” It reveals events leading to the establishment of the camp, how the mobile killing squad employed the world's first gas van to terminate the lives of mentally ill patients, and the assembly-line procedure employed in the camp to commit genocide on the Jewish population. Based on over 20 years of careful research, the book provides a single-volume history of the camp and its handful of survivors, and includes previously unpublished first-hand accounts and photographs.
Ruth Gay
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300092714
- eISBN:
- 9780300133127
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300092714.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book tells the little-known story of why a quarter-million Jews, survivors of death camps and forced labor, sought refuge in Germany after World War II. Those who had ventured to return to ...
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This book tells the little-known story of why a quarter-million Jews, survivors of death camps and forced labor, sought refuge in Germany after World War II. Those who had ventured to return to Poland after liberation soon found that their homeland had become a new killing ground, where some 1,500 Jews were murdered in pogroms between 1945 and 1947. Facing death at home, and with Palestine and the rest of the world largely closed to them, they looked for a place to be safe and found it in the shelter of the Allied Occupation Forces in Germany. By 1950 a little community of 20,000 Jews remained in Germany: 8,000 native German Jews and 12,000 from Eastern Europe. The author examines their contrasting lives in the two postwar Germanies. After the fall of Communism, the Jewish community was suddenly overwhelmed by tens of thousands of former Soviet Jews. Now there are some 100,000 Jews in Germany. The old, somewhat nostalgic life of the first postwar decades is being swept aside by radical forces from the Lubavitcher at one end to Reform and feminism at the other. What started in 1945 as a “remnant” community has become a dynamic new center of Jewish life.Less
This book tells the little-known story of why a quarter-million Jews, survivors of death camps and forced labor, sought refuge in Germany after World War II. Those who had ventured to return to Poland after liberation soon found that their homeland had become a new killing ground, where some 1,500 Jews were murdered in pogroms between 1945 and 1947. Facing death at home, and with Palestine and the rest of the world largely closed to them, they looked for a place to be safe and found it in the shelter of the Allied Occupation Forces in Germany. By 1950 a little community of 20,000 Jews remained in Germany: 8,000 native German Jews and 12,000 from Eastern Europe. The author examines their contrasting lives in the two postwar Germanies. After the fall of Communism, the Jewish community was suddenly overwhelmed by tens of thousands of former Soviet Jews. Now there are some 100,000 Jews in Germany. The old, somewhat nostalgic life of the first postwar decades is being swept aside by radical forces from the Lubavitcher at one end to Reform and feminism at the other. What started in 1945 as a “remnant” community has become a dynamic new center of Jewish life.
Rolf-Dieter Müller
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780813167381
- eISBN:
- 9780813168111
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813167381.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Military History
Volksgemeinschaft is an idealized concept referring to the Germanic ethnic or national community. The members of this community enjoyed the economic gains under Hitler, but most remembered the past ...
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Volksgemeinschaft is an idealized concept referring to the Germanic ethnic or national community. The members of this community enjoyed the economic gains under Hitler, but most remembered the past and feared another war. To gain support for Hitler’s military aggression, Goebbels tapped into fears of Bolshevism and a Jewish world conspiracy and propounded the Nazi racial ideology of extreme anti-Semitism. The “master race” and “slave” ideology led to the imprisonment and genocide of European Jews and others marked as racially inferior or handicapped. In need of manpower for armaments production and in other industries, the Germans used Jewish prisoners and Soviet POWS as slave labor in high-mortality working conditions. The regime also employed and abused foreign laborers living in Germany. Increasing numbers of labor camps, concentration camps, and death camps were added in Germany and occupied areas. Müller notes that German civilians definitely witnessed the presence of these prisoners and were drawn into the system, similarly to the Wehrmacht. Civilians feared the Gestapo, acquired a fatalistic view, and offered little support for a coup. For many, the Wehrmacht’s conspiracy and failed assassination attempt of 20 July 1944, Valkyrie, stands as a hopeful symbol of a rebellion of conscience.Less
Volksgemeinschaft is an idealized concept referring to the Germanic ethnic or national community. The members of this community enjoyed the economic gains under Hitler, but most remembered the past and feared another war. To gain support for Hitler’s military aggression, Goebbels tapped into fears of Bolshevism and a Jewish world conspiracy and propounded the Nazi racial ideology of extreme anti-Semitism. The “master race” and “slave” ideology led to the imprisonment and genocide of European Jews and others marked as racially inferior or handicapped. In need of manpower for armaments production and in other industries, the Germans used Jewish prisoners and Soviet POWS as slave labor in high-mortality working conditions. The regime also employed and abused foreign laborers living in Germany. Increasing numbers of labor camps, concentration camps, and death camps were added in Germany and occupied areas. Müller notes that German civilians definitely witnessed the presence of these prisoners and were drawn into the system, similarly to the Wehrmacht. Civilians feared the Gestapo, acquired a fatalistic view, and offered little support for a coup. For many, the Wehrmacht’s conspiracy and failed assassination attempt of 20 July 1944, Valkyrie, stands as a hopeful symbol of a rebellion of conscience.
Alan Rosenthal
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784993023
- eISBN:
- 9781526109804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784993023.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses the making of Rosenthal’s film about the Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann, as the author tries to discover who was the real Eichmann behind his façade as a mere cog in the ...
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This chapter discusses the making of Rosenthal’s film about the Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann, as the author tries to discover who was the real Eichmann behind his façade as a mere cog in the wheel of Nazi bureaucracy and Jewish murder.Starting from his experiences as Assistant Producer during the televizing of the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, Rosenthal documents his doubts about Hannah Arendt’s excuses for Eichmann. After first deciding to make a film based on the release of Eichmann’s prison memoirs after 40 years by the Israel Government archives, Rosenthal discusses a more secret and authentic memoir written by Eichmann when he was free in Argentina after the war. Here Eichmann regrets nothing, only that he wasn’t harsh enough and stern enough and says “I would have jumped into my grave with joy knowing six million enemies of the Reich had died like animals.”Less
This chapter discusses the making of Rosenthal’s film about the Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann, as the author tries to discover who was the real Eichmann behind his façade as a mere cog in the wheel of Nazi bureaucracy and Jewish murder.Starting from his experiences as Assistant Producer during the televizing of the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, Rosenthal documents his doubts about Hannah Arendt’s excuses for Eichmann. After first deciding to make a film based on the release of Eichmann’s prison memoirs after 40 years by the Israel Government archives, Rosenthal discusses a more secret and authentic memoir written by Eichmann when he was free in Argentina after the war. Here Eichmann regrets nothing, only that he wasn’t harsh enough and stern enough and says “I would have jumped into my grave with joy knowing six million enemies of the Reich had died like animals.”
