Language:
English
Year of publication:
1992
Titel der Quelle:
Probing the Limits of Representation
Angaben zur Quelle:
(1992) 128-142
Keywords:
Jewish councils History 20th century
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
;
Jewish ghettos History
;
World War, 1939-1945 Conscript labor
;
Forced labor History 20th century
Abstract:
The Jewish Councils in the Eastern European ghettos were misled by the system of forced labor introduced by the Nazis in the ghettos. Apart from other effects, this system provided the relations between Nazi authorities and Jewish communities with some "economic rationality". The Jews believed that their labor was essential for the Nazis’ self-preservation. Productive labor seemed to the "Judenrat" to be a means to prevent or forestall the ghettos’ annihilation. Thus, the "Judenrat" failed as an observer who was attempting to judge the Nazis’ aims and means. Contends that historians are in the same position; they try to reconstruct historical reality based on assumptions of rationality inherent to the normal civilized world.
Note:
Appeared also in his "Beyond the Conceivable" (2000) 130-137. In German: "Zivilisation und Barbarei" (1991) 307-321. In Hebrew: "Zmanim" 53 (1995) 44-53.
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Record created automatically from multi-article record # 000072972
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