Language:
English
Year of publication:
2000
Titel der Quelle:
History and Memory; Studies in Representation of the Past
Angaben zur Quelle:
12,1 (2000) 135-150
Keywords:
Nazi concentration camps
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Sources
;
World War, 1939-1945 Photography
Abstract:
The photographs taken by Allied army photographers during the liberation of Nazi camps (Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Buchenwald, etc.), besides being documentary evidence, have also turned into cult images and have become icons. Compares these photographs to the icons used by the Orthodox Church. Like the latter, the photographs are associated with reality in the perception of the viewers; they represent the reality of the camps. They serve as symbols of the Holocaust and create an immediate connection to the historical events. They canonize the victims; through them, the victims become part of society's memorial canon. However, they only show the result of the murder, thus veiling the crime itself - just like the icon veils the "inner sanctum." Contends that the photographs barely cope with their cultural task - to represent the Nazi crimes authentically.
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