Should be read by all who produce and consume writings and arts about the Holocaust.

CHOICE

Among sources on the Holocaust, survivor testimonies are the least replaceable and most complex, reflecting both the personality of the narrator and the conditions and perceptions prevailing at the time of narration. Scholars, despite their aim to challenge memory and fill its gaps, often use testimonies uncritically or selectively-mining them to support generalizations. This book represents a departure, bringing Holocaust experts Atina Grossmann, Konrad Kwiet, Wendy Lower, Jürgen Matthäus, and Nechama Tec together to analyze the testimony of one Holocaust survivor. Born in Bratislava at the end of World War I, Helen "Zippi" Spitzer Tichauer was sent to Auschwitz in 1942. One of the few early arrivals to survive the camp and the death marches, she met her future husband in a DP camp, and they moved to New York in the 1960s. Beginning in 1946, Zippi devoted many hours to talking with a small group of scholars about her life. Her wide-ranging interviews are uniquely suited to raise questions on the meaning and use of survivor testimony. What do we know today about the workings of a death camp? How willing are we to learn from the experiences of a survivor, and how much is our perception preconditioned by standardized images? What are the mechanisms, aims, and pitfalls of storytelling? Can survivor testimonies be understood properly without guidance from those who experienced the events? This book's new, multifaceted approach toward Zippi's unique story combined with the authors' analysis of key aspects of Holocaust memory, its forms and its functions, makes it a rewarding and fascinating read.
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Atina Grossmann, Konrad Kwiet, Wendy Lower, Jürgen Matthäus, and Nechama Tec analyze the testimony of one Holocaust survivor, Helen "Zippi" Spitzer Tichauer. This book's new, multifaceted approach toward Zippi's unique story combined with the authors' analysis of key aspects of Holocaust memory, its forms and its functions, makes it a rewarding and fascinating read.
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Foreword ; Mark Roseman ; Introduction: What Does it Mean? Holocaust Testimony and the Story of Helen "Zippi" Tichauer ; Chapter 1: Designing Survival: A Graphic Artist in Birkenau ; Konrad Kwiet ; Chapter 2: Recapturing the Past: Individuality and Cooperation in Auschwitz ; Nechama Tec ; Chapter 3: Displacing Memory: The Transformations of an Early Interview ; Jurgen Matthaus ; Chapter 4: Living On: Remembering Feldafing ; Atina Grossmann ; Chapter 5: Distant Encounter: An Auschwitz Survivor in the College Classroom ; Wendy Lower ; Conclusion: What Have We Learned? ; Appendix: English Translation of an Interview ; Conducted by David Boder with Helen Tichauer ; Notes ; Bibliography ; About the Contributors ; Index
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"Should be read by all who produce and consume writings and arts about the Holocaust."--CHOICE "One of a handful of books that takes seriously the complexity and contingency of Holocaust survivors' recounting. A must read for anyone concerned with survivor testimony, past and future."--American Historical Review "Takes a unique approach to understanding the Holocaust. These scholars have put together a fascinating read about how survivor testimony helps in understanding the Holocaust itself, and they delve into the deeper meaning of collecting testimonies and their value in history. Highly recommended for all types of libraries."--Association of Jewish Libraries "Represents a transformation in how historians are lately thinking about survivor testimony...[A]t its most profound moments, [it] wrestles with the question of who has authority to claim to speak the truth with respect to this history. It challenges the presumption that historians or survivors could be, independent of one another, the arbiters of truth. It suggests, rather, that historical truth can only emerge out of a complex dialogue between them."--Central European History "A unique contribution to the growing literature on Holocaust testimonies."--Biography
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Selling point: Five leading Holocaust scholars examine the testimony of one survivor in this unique project
Jürgen Matthäus is the Director, Applied Research, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Selling point: Five leading Holocaust scholars examine the testimony of one survivor in this unique project

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199772537
Publisert
2011
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Inc
Vekt
322 gr
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
12 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
224

Redaktør

Biografisk notat

Director, Applied Research, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum