The End of the Holocaust

325 Pages·2011·1.7 MB·English

by  Alvin H. Rosenfeld

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“For the sake of transparency:
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Alvin Rosenfeld and I have been friends for some forty years. e end
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His work has always been present to my own. We have both written so d
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much—too much?—on what we so poorly call the Holocaust, yet never in of The
a situation of ideological or psychological conflict.
T Alvin H. Rosenfeld
The
Forcefully written, as always, his new volume honors his entire life
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as teacher and writer attached to the principles of intellectual integrity and
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moral responsibility. Here, too, he demonstrates erudition and knowledge, I
end n this provocative work, Alvin H.
a gift for analysis and astonishing insight.
ALvIn H. RoSEnFELd holds the e Rosenfeld contends that the prolif-
Teachers and students alike will find this book to be a great gift.”
Irving M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies n eration of books, films, television
and is Professor of English at Indiana —EliE WiEsEl programs, museums, and public com-
of The
University Bloomington, where he is d memorations related to the Holocaust
also founder and former director of the “With book after book studying the subject, with tens of thousands has, perversely, brought about a diminu-
Borns Jewish Studies Program. He is of testimonies recorded, with grim discoveries still being made in the holocausT tion of its meaning and a denigration of
o
author of A Double Dying: Reflections ‘bloodlands’ of Eastern Europe, why should we foresee the end of its memory. Investigating a wide range
f
on Holocaust Literature (1980) and Holocaust memory? Alvin Rosenfeld’s magisterial account of both the of events and cultural phenomena, such
universalizing and negationist trends of Holocaust study provides a T
Imagining Hitler (1985), and editor as Ronald Reagan’s 1985 visit to the
disturbing answer. Polemical, readable, fully informed, it is an important h
of Thinking about the Holocaust: After German cemetery at Bitburg, the distor-
contribution by an eminent scholar.”
e
Half a Century (1997) and The Writer tions of Anne Frank’s story, and the ways

Uprooted: Contemporary Jewish Exile —GEoffREy HARtmAn, author of The Longest Shadow: h in which the Holocaust has been depict-
In the Aftermath of the Holocaust
Literature (2009), all published by ed by such artists and filmmakers as Judy
o
Indiana University Press. Rosenfeld held Chicago and Steven Spielberg, Rosenfeld
a presidential appointment on the United “offers a clear, erudite, and disturbing exposition of some of the most l charts the cultural forces that have mini-
States Holocaust Memorial Council from prominent lines of thought and argument that have emerged from mized the Holocaust in popular percep-
o
2002 to 2007. He currently serves on Holocaust literature and cultural debate over the last half century. . . . tions. He contrasts these with sobering
the Executive Committee of the United Effective and moving.” c representations by Holocaust witnesses
States Holocaust Memorial Museum such as Jean Améry, Primo Levi, Elie
—ERic J. sundquist, author of Strangers in the Land:
and is chair of the Academic Committee Blacks, Jews, Post-Holocaust America a Wiesel, and Imre Kertész. The book con-
of the Museum’s Center for Advanced u cludes with a powerful warning about
alvin h. Rosenfeld
Holocaust Studies. He is director of the the possible consequences of “the end of
Indiana University Institute for the Study s the Holocaust” in public consciousness.
of Contemporary Antisemitism. INDIANA T
University Press
INDIANA
Bloomington & Indianapolis
iupress.indiana.edu
1-800-842-6796
End of Holocaust MECH 3 blurbs.indd 1 2/15/11 3:14 PM
Recto Runningfoot i
the end of the holocaust
ii the end of the holocaust
Recto Runningfoot iii
the end
of the
holocaust
alvin h. rosenfeld
indiana university press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
iv the end of the holocaust
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2011 by Alvin H. Rosenfeld
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on
Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rosenfeld, Alvin H. (Alvin Hirsch), [date]
The end of the Holocaust / Alvin H. Rosenfeld.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-35643-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Historiography. 2. Holocaust, Jewish
(1939–1945), in literature. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Influence.
4. Frank, Anne, 1929–1945—Influence. 5. Collective memory—United
States. 6. Popular culture—United States. I. Title.
D804.348.R65 2011
940.53'1814—dc22 2010047849
1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12 11
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This book is for my wife,
Erna Rosenfeld,
and our children and grandchildren
Gavriel and Erika,
Julia and Benjamin
Dalia and Asher,
Natan, Gidon, and Adin
vi the end of the holocaust
Recto Runningfoot vii
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
one
Popular Culture and the Politics of Memory
14
two
The Rhetoric of Victimization
33
three
The Americanization of the Holocaust
51
four
Anne Frank:
The Posthumous Years
95
five
The Anne Frank We Remember/The Anne Frank We Forget
140
viii thev ieini d coofn ttheen thsolocaust
six
Jean Améry:
The Anguish of the Witness
163
seven
Primo Levi:
The Survivor as Victim
185
eight
Surviving Survival:
Elie Wiesel and Imre Kertész
213
nine
The End of the Holocaust
238
epilogue
A “Second Holocaust”?
271
Notes 281
Index 299
Recto Runningfoot ix
acknowledgments
Many friends, colleagues, former students, and family members
have read portions of this manuscript and given me the benefits
of their insights. While they bear no responsibility for the flaws
that may remain in the final version of this book, their comments
and criticisms proved helpful time and again. I am especially
grateful to Edward Alexander, Ilan Avisar, Lisa Braverman, Dov-
Ber Kerler, Myron Kolatch, Barbara Krawcowicz, Matthias Leh-
mann, Vivian Liska, Daniel and Gale Nichols, Cynthia Ozick,
Aron Rodrigue, Dalia Rosenfeld, Erna Rosenfeld, Gavriel Ros-
enfeld, Sidney Rosenfeld, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, John
Schilb, David Semmel, David Singer, Eric Sundquist, Leona
Toker, Jeffrey Veidlinger, and Elhanan Yakira. It is also a pleasure
to acknowledge the assistance of Meghan Clark, who efficiently
and cheerfully helped me prepare the manuscript of this book
for publication.
I am grateful to Indiana University for awarding me a sabbatical
research leave during the fall semester 2009 and to Andrea Cicca-
relli, the director of the university’s College Arts and Humanities
Institute (CAHI), for a research fellowship during spring 2010.
Both awards made it possible for me to read and write in a more
focused way than otherwise would have been possible.
I thank the following for permission to reprint earlier versions
of some of the material in this book: