Language:
English
Year of publication:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Nordisk Judaistik
Angaben zur Quelle:
19,1-2 (1998) 7-32
Keywords:
Klemperer, Victor,
;
Jews History 1933-1945
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Diaries
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Personal narratives
Abstract:
Klemperer's diary (1995) has been seen as illustrating a counter-argument to Goldhagen's thesis of German "eliminationist antisemitism", showing that antisemitism in Germany was a mere aberration that found little resonance among ordinary Germans. However, a close reading of the diary shows that Klemperer's account is that of an assimilated Jewish intellectual, alienated both from Jewry and from the majority of Germans. Discusses Klemperer's representation of Nazism and antisemitism, showing where it diverges from reality. Contends that, as a source illuminating the Holocaust, the diary must be used with caution. Klemperer's creation of a dichotomy between Nazis and Germans is due to wishful thinking on the part of German Jews, and reinforces revisionist historiography that wishes to exonerate Germans of their collective guilt.
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