The acts of being a witness and giving a testimony are seemingly two words with a simple correlation, but in turn they hold deeper meanings. These words in particular are the topics of various astute writers and thinkers ranging from Primo Levi to Agamben to Laub. From each of the previously mentioned authors we have read essays and have been able to make conclusions from their opinions on the matter. In particular, the meaning of the words in relation with the chaotic and horrific time of the Holocaust. Not only was the event and occurring itself awful, but the mind games and brain washing that was done to so many detrimental as well. It has been imperative to look at the psychological effects on the victims and in turn witnesses, to …show more content…
This particular author wrote in a way to not only inform you, but make you think and raise questions to your own assertions. In portions of Agamben’s work he refers to a soccer match described by Primo Levi between those persecuted in the work camp and the SS soldiers running the death camp. Levi brings up the irony of the situation by writing “they take sides, bet, applaud, urge the players on as if, rather than at the gates of hell, the game were taking place on the village green” (Levi 1989: 55). This brief moment of normalcy in such a time of constant chaos is extremely dumbfounding. It goes to show you that everything happening in the Holocaust was without a certain purpose. How could one have a “normal” memory of a time that must have been so jaded and fogged by the lies surrounding them. This is Agamben’s argument as to why a witness in a traumatic situation, such as the Holocaust, is not necessarily reliable. From his work on the issue of witness and testimony, I come to my own conclusion that the things most unthinkable that people experience and see in their lives cannot be put into words. So much emotion is encompassing one’s mind at any particular moment during such an event that it can be nearly impossible to take it all in. One can also be so frustrated by a situation that distance is immediately desired and felt by the victim of the experience, thus limiting their complete understanding and memory of the
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” (Elie Wiesel) The Holocaust is a topic that is still not forgotten and is used by many people, as a motivation, to try not to repeat history. Many lessons can be taught from learning about the Holocaust, but to Eve Bunting and Fred Gross there is one lesson that could have changed the result of this horrible event. The Terrible Things, by Eve Bunting, and The Child of the Holocaust, by Fred Gross, both portray the same moral meaning in their presentations but use different evidence and word choice to create an overall
The resistance of the Holocaust has claimed worldwide fame at a certain point in history, but the evidence that the evil-doers themselves left crush everything that verifies the fantasy of the Holocaust. For an example, in Poland, the total Jewish population of over thirty-three hundred thousand suddenly plummeted to three hundred thousand. Ten percent of the population survived the Holocaust in Poland. Almost every country that the Nazis have conquered has the same percent of survival as Poland. In Elie Wiesel Wiesel’s memoir Night, the activities in the concentration camps, the suffering of Jews, and the disbelief of the inhumane actions of the Nazis result in making people resist the truth.
Many different responses have occurred to readers after their perusal of this novel. Those that doubt the stories of the holocaust’s reality see Night as lies and propaganda designed to further the myth of the holocaust. Yet, for those people believing in the reality, the feelings proffered by the book are quite different. Many feel outrage at the extent of human maliciousness towards other humans. Others experience pity for the loss of family, friends, and self that is felt by the Holocaust victims.
The events which have become to be known as The Holocaust have caused much debate and dispute among historians. Central to this varied dispute is the intentions and motives of the perpetrators, with a wide range of theories as to why such horrific events took place. The publication of Jonah Goldhagen’s controversial but bestselling book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust” in many ways saw the reigniting of the debate and a flurry of scholarly and public interest. Central to Goldhagen’s disputed argument is the presentation of the perpetrators of the Holocaust as ordinary Germans who largely, willingly took part in the atrocities because of deeply held and violently strong anti-Semitic beliefs. This in many ways challenged earlier works like Christopher Browning’s “Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland” which arguably gives a more complex explanation for the motives of the perpetrators placing the emphasis on circumstance and pressure to conform. These differing opinions on why the perpetrators did what they did during the Holocaust have led to them being presented in very different ways by each historian. To contrast this I have chosen to focus on the portrayal of one event both books focus on in detail; the mass shooting of around 1,500 Jews that took place in Jozefow, Poland on July 13th 1942 (Browning:2001:225). This example clearly highlights the way each historian presents the perpetrators in different ways through; the use of language, imagery, stylistic devices and quotations, as a way of backing up their own argument. To do this I will focus on how various aspects of the massacre are portrayed and the way in which this affects the presentation of the per...
Primo Levi, in his novel Survival in Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted upon the prisoners of the concentration camp by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes “the denial of humanness” constantly forced upon the prisoners through similes, metaphors, and imagery of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization (“Dehumanization”). He makes his readers aware of the cruel reality in the concentration camp in order to help them examine the psychological effects dehumanization has not only on those dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. He establishes an earnest and reflective tone with his audience yearning to grasp the reality of genocide.
Primo Levi tells the readers the explicit details of the concentration camp Auschwitz, in his memoir, “Survival in Auschwitz.” The way in which the author talks about the camp is as if it is its own society. There is a very different and very specific way of life at the camp; their basic needs are provided for them, but only in the simplest form in order to have a small chance of survival. There is no clean, drinkable water, so instead they drink coffee, they eat soup twice a day, and a small amount of bread (26). There are thousands of diverse people living in the camp, who are forced to live with each other and work in a factory, reducing their self-worth to merely factors of production. The author illustrates the only purpose for the Jews is work; “This camp is a work-camp, in German one says Arbeitslager; all the prisoners, there are about ten thousand, work in a factory which produces a type of rubber called Buna, so th...
The Holocaust was one of the most horrifying crimes against humanity. "Hitler, in an attempt to establish the pure Aryan race, decided that Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma (Gypsies), and homosexuals amongst others were to be eliminated from the German population. One of his main methods of exterminating these “undesirables” was through the use of concentration and death camps. In January of 1941, Adolf Hitler and his top officials decided to make their “final solution” a reality. Their goal was to eliminate the Jews and the “impure” from the entire German population. Auschwitz was not only the largest concentration camp that carried out Hitler's “final solution,” but it was also the most extensive. It was comprised of three separate camps that encompassed approximately 25 square miles. Although millions of people came to Auschwitz, it is doubted that more than 120,000-150,000 ever lived there at any one time. (Encyclopedia of the Holocaust)
Testimonies allow future generations to read, hear and learn from the people who experienced, witnessed, or perpetrated the genocidal policies and crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators. These testimonies are valuable resources which can enhance our understanding of the Holocaust and related issues. Oral testimonies provide listeners glimpses into the history of the Holocaust that cannot be obtained from documents or written records. While textual documents are essential for the study of the Holocaust, an individual’s testimony can supplement those document...
Gottfried, Ted. Deniers of the Holocaust: who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Brookfield , Connecticut : Twenty-First Century Books, 2001. Print.
“Marshal Breger, a catholic university law professor and leader of the expedition, explained that the impetus behind the effort is to address head on, the denial of the Holocaust that is part of growing anti-semitism in muslim communities. His goal, one which we share, is to educate those who might not have the kind of knowledge we have about the Holocaust; to promote understanding; and even change.” (online). “Walking down the train tracks from the Judenrampe to the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria, many remarked that they were not observing the sites as Muslims Jews, or religious leaders, but as parents who could relate the horror of being separated from their children.” (“visit”). Marshal Breger wants to teach Holocaust Deniers about the Holocaust so they can know what really happened and have an understanding about the Holocaust and not say that it never happened.
Levi, Neil, and Michael Rothberg. The Holocaust: Theoretical Readings. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2003. Print.
Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York: Vintage, 1997. Print.
...urvivors crawling towards me, clawing at my soul. The guilt of the world had been literally placed on my shoulders as I closed the book and reflected on the morbid events I had just read. As the sun set that night, I found no joy in its vastness and splendor, for I was still blinded by the sins of those before me. The sound of my tears crashing to the icy floor sang me to sleep. Just kidding. But seriously, here’s the rest. Upon reading of the narrators’ brief excerpt of his experience, I was overcome with empathy for both the victims and persecutors. The everlasting effect of the holocaust is not only among those who lost families÷, friends,
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
There have been literally thousands of books written on the experiences of the Holocaust, many of them from eyewitnesses and victims. Virtually all of the Holocaust literature is moving and important, for the Holocaust is one of the major definitive experiences of world history. Of all the works on the Holocaust, those by Primo Levi, an Italian Jew who survived the Holocaust, are amongst the most powerful. Primo Levi was born in Turin on July 13, 1919; he committed suicide, also in Turin, on April 11, 1987. The experiences of Jews in Fascist Italy were not immediately comparable to those of Nazi Germany. Levi suffered anti-Semitism at school, although again nothing compared to Nazi Germany. He was made fun of in scho...