Language:
English
Year of publication:
2006
Titel der Quelle:
East European Jewish Affairs
Angaben zur Quelle:
36,2 (2006) 141-161
Keywords:
Erenburg, Ilia Grigorevich; Grossman, Vasilii Semenovich (eds.)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
Abstract:
Discusses the book that was banned in 1947 because Soviet authorities opposed anything that singled out Jews (here Jewish suffering during World War II) or might encourage ethnic identity. Focuses on the book's representation of the Nazi extermination of Soviet Jewry, noting that it omitted the topic of collaboration and stressed help given Jews by non-Jews. "Chornaya kniga" alternates between realistic, often despairing eyewitness testimony and creative essays that express hope and stress heroism and martyrdom. Co-editor Grossman himself exemplifies the latter, less realistic approach, even distancing himself from the horrible reality by failing to mention that his mother was a Holocaust victim. The avoidance of incidents that would reveal passivity and victimhood reflect the values not only of the postwar USSR, but also of other countries (including Israel and the USA), in all of which wartime heroism was stressed, partly to counter the stereotype of Jewish cowardice. The "Black Book" stresses the Soviet rather than the Jewish allegiance of ghetto fighters (e.g. in Minsk) and the loyalty of Soviet Jews to the USSR. Still, this representation of Jewish suffering should be considered in a wider, not just Soviet, context.
DOI:
10.1080/13501670600985029
URL:
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