Language:
German
Year of publication:
2002
Titel der Quelle:
1999; Zeitschrift für Sozialgeschichte des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts
Angaben zur Quelle:
17,2 (2002) 13-43
Keywords:
Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Trials, litigation, etc. Officials and employees
;
Majdanek (Concentration camp) Officials and employees
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
War crime trials
;
Documentary television programs
Abstract:
Notes that while there was great public interest in the Auschwitz trial, in the Majdanek trial the interest began only with the showing of the American TV series "Holocaust" in 1979.Traces the stages of each of these two trials. Examines coverage of the trials in the daily news summary of the ZDF (the second German TV network), as well as in the magazines of all of the networks. Whereas these followed the Auschwitz trial from beginning to end, they hardly dealt with the Majdanek trial before 1979. However, reports on the Majdanek trial went into greater depth. The reports on the Auschwitz trial had emphasized its importance for Germany's status abroad; they contained relatively little on events in the courtroom, and avoided controversial issues. At the Auschwitz trial, reporters were intrigued by the psychology of the perpetrators; at the Majdanek trial, they were more interested in the victims, their Holocaust experiences, the effect on their lives, and their perception of the often hostile atmosphere in the courtroom. Attributes the differences to a change in generations, to the shift of emphasis from the juridical to the educational, and to the aim to spread knowledge about the Holocaust.
URL:
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