Language:
English
Year of publication:
2014
Titel der Quelle:
Jewish Women Writers in Britain
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2014) 174-191
Keywords:
Pascal, Julia
;
Samuels, Diane,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), and the theater
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
Jewish women Fiction
;
Jewish women authors 20th century
Abstract:
Discusses two Holocaust plays by Anglo-Jewish women writers: "Theresa", the first play in "Holocaust Trilogy" (1990) by Julia Pascal, and "Kindertransport" (1993) by Diane Samuels. Both of them discuss the question of Britain's measure of responsibility for the destruction of European Jewry. "Theresa" deals with the handing over of three Jewish women to the Gestapo by a British official in the Nazi-occupied Channel Islands, and challenges the story of Britain's stalwart resistance to Nazi conquest and unyielding democratic instincts. The real Theresa Steiner was deported and murdered in Auschwitz in 1942. "Kindertransport" is based on a story which contrasts dramatically with that of "Theresa", and supports Britain's sense of having a humane democratic soul. However, through the prism of three mother-daughter relationships, this play also explores how the story and its stoic heroism are undermined, by the combination of rescue and integration of Jewish refugees and denial or erasure of their Jewish identity. Instead of viewing the Holocaust as a solely German crime, it must be recognized as integral to the racism rampant at that time.
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