Language:
Polish
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
Kwartalnik Historii Żydów
Angaben zur Quelle:
273 (2020) 161-177
Keywords:
Grynberg, Henryk
;
Exhumation
;
Jewish cemeteries
;
Burial in literature
;
Jewish authors
;
Polish literature History and criticism 20th century
Abstract:
In this article the author looks at pre-WWII exhumations of Jewish graves in the countryside. The religious and historic aspect of the exhumations is the starting point for the analysis. The author is interested in describing the role played by literature in connection with the exhumations, starting with the evidence and ending with statements of a philosophical nature. This wide spectrum of meaning of literary stories makes it possible to compare them to other sources used by historians, such as records of exhumations, visitors’ books, photographs, articles and news in the press. The short stories by Henryk Grynberg analysed here, coming first of all from his first collection Ekipa „Antygona” published in 1963 by Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy publishers, gives rise to various misgivings regarding their interpretation. As a result, Grynberg’s narrative cannot be regarded as historical source sensu stricte, until it becomes clear what the writer needed the literary form for and why it was literature rather than another, less complex form of document, that became the vehicle for the texts about the exhumations. The research matierial also includes Grynberg’s memoirs entitled Dziedzictwo [Legacy] and the author’s exchange of letters with the writer. The theoretical background is provided by historic studies of post-war exhumations, the forensic turn and the ontology of the dead body.
Note:
With an English summary.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
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