Writing the Holocaust: Identity, Testimony, Representation PDF
Preview Writing the Holocaust: Identity, Testimony, Representation
OXFORD HISTORICAL MONOGRAPHS Editors J. MADDICOTT R. J. W. EVANS J. HARRIS B. WARD-PERKINS J. ROBERTSON R. SERVICE P. A. SLACK This page intentionally left blank Writing the Holocaust Identity, Testimony, Representation ZOË VANIA WAXMAN 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Zoë Vania Waxman2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk ISBN 0–19–920638–4 978–0–19–920638–4 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Sharon Hannah Levine This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements This book arises from my doctoral thesis. I am extremely grateful to the Faculty of History, Oxford University, and St Antony’s College, Oxford, for providing me with an Oxford University Graduate Studentship, and also to the managers of the Arnold, Bryce, and Read Funds for awarding me the 1999–2000 Lothian Studentship in Modern History. My thesis could not have been written without the expertise of my supervisor, Jonathan Webber. His extraordinary knowledge of the Holocaust and Jewish history were invaluable. I would also like to thank Connie Webber for her generous hospitality. Nick Stargardt and Isabel Wollaston examined my thesis. Their insightful suggestions instructed the writing of this book, and I am indebted to Nick Stargardt for his time and patience in seeing it through to publication. I benefited from innumerable inspiring and challenging conversa- tions with Mark Greenaway. We discussed many ideas over the courseof days, if not months, and without him a very different book would have been written. He also provided friendship and support at a time when it was greatly needed. I hope he knows how much Iappreciate it. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Mansfield College, Oxford, for providing me with a supportive environment in which to finish the project, especially Michael Freeden, Kathryn Gleadle, David Leopold, Ron Nettler, Lucinda Rumsey, Prince Saprai, and my constantly stimulating tutees. Particular thanks go to Paul Lodge for being such a loyal and thoughtful friend. The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies has been similarly encouraging of both my research and my teaching. I would particularly like to thank the many graduate students who have developed my thinking on the Holocaust, and also David Rechter, for his kindness and advice. viii Acknowledgements Josie McClellan and William Whyte have been generous not only with their considerable intellects but also with their friendship. A big thank you to you both. I am also greatly appreciative of the many others who have read and commented on the different parts of this book in its various stages. Particular thanks to Susannah Heschel, Esther Jilovsky, Matthew Reisz, David Rundle, Dan Stone, and Jean van Altena for her much needed help in preparing the manuscript for publication. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and the constant distractions. Contents Note on Foreign Language Names and Terms x Introduction 1 1. Writing as Resistance? Bearing Witness in the Warsaw Ghetto 7 2. Writing to Survive: The Testimony of the Concentration Camps 50 3. Writing to Remember: The Role of the Survivor 88 4. Writing Ignored: Reading Women’s Holocaust Testimonies 122 5. Writing the Ineffable: The Representation of Testimony 152 Epilogue 185 Bibliography 189 Index 215
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