Language:
German
Year of publication:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Menora; Jahrbuch für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte
Angaben zur Quelle:
9 (1998) 224-244
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
Abstract:
Comments that Holocaust survivors' memories of their experiences are influenced by their postwar surroundings and differ from country to country. In East Germany the regime imposed a version of history that differentiated between high-status resistance fighters and lower-status victims. Analyzes an interview with a typical East German Jew at the Archiv der Erinnerung of the Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum. Günther Reiche (b. 1919, Berlin) went through a series of concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He gives a standard description of Auschwitz, and adopts a more personal tone only when he recounts his active and successful escape from a "selection" (in contrast to the passivity of other prisoners). In telling about Buchenwald he identifies with the Resistance, even though in fact he was not allowed to take part in it.
Note:
A slightly abridged version appeared in "Cahier International sur le Témoignage Audiovisuel" 4 (1999).
URL:
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