Language:
English
Year of publication:
2001
Titel der Quelle:
Clio; a Journal of Literature, History and the Philosophy of History
Angaben zur Quelle:
30,2 (2001) 143-168
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Personal narratives
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
;
Holocaust survivors
Abstract:
Analyzes the diary of Abraham Lewin, who witnessed the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto, as well as ideas regarding writing about the Holocaust explicated in Maurice Blanchot's "The Writing of the Disaster." Concludes that Lewin's testimony does not recount history, since the events were "irrecuperable." There was a gap between what Lewin saw and what he was able to write, due to trauma. It is not events that are expressed, but the diarist's helplessness in facing them. Contends that testimony discloses what has been lost to memory and history. However, such writing can be termed redemptive since it indicates the moment of horror that precedes history and undermines the comfort of history and coherence.
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