The Belated Witness: Literature, Testimony, and the Question of Holocaust Survival

Bernard–Donals, Michael

doi:10.2307/complitstudies.44.3.0340

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Merton ( 1957 ) suggested a moral boundary to latent function analysis, because “moral evaluations in a society tend to be largely in terms of the manifest consequences of a practice or code, we should be prepared to find that analysis in terms of latent functions at times runs counter to prevailing moral evaluations” (p. 74). This is particularly problematic regarding analysis of the Holocaust—which caused deeply significant harm to the Jewish people—necessitating ethical considerations related to the appropriateness of discourse (Bernard-Donals & Glejzer, 2001 ). Social injury also calls for renewed consideration of existing theories and concepts to better understand connections between social change and harm (e.g., economic change, political revolution, etc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Holocaust and Disciplinary Myopia in Criminology and Sociology: Social injury as a response to the challenges of legal formalism

Dallier

2022

Crime Law Soc Change

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Criminological and sociological discourse recognizes the impact of structure on crime, but generally eschews the consideration of structural damage and human suffering emanating from malevolent social movements (e.g., the Holocaust). Legal formalism presents conceptual challenges that has hindered analysis of harmful macroscopic phenomena, as it created jurisprudential impediments to be surmounted by the architects of the Nuremberg Tribunals. In considering these issues, a new ‘dark figure’ is identified that is compatible with phenomena examined from the social harm perspective, and to remediate disciplinary myopia, a specification of Edwin Sutherland’s (1945) concept of social injury is suggested and contrasted with Galtung’s (1969) construct of structural violence. Social injury refers to the recursive damage to social structure and human potential through the functional impairment of social institutions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Holocaust and Disciplinary Myopia in Criminology and Sociology: Social injury as a response to the challenges of legal formalism

Dallier

2022

Crime Law Soc Change

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“…In her discussion of the ethical problems surrounding recounting testimonies of witnessing state terror, Pratt ( 2008 ) highlights the related risks of voyeurism and the “pornography of horror” that occurs when witnesses produce testimony “for the sake of the moral satisfaction of the liberal gaze” (Pratt, 2008 , p. 755, quoting Bernstein, 2004 , p. 11). Conceptual work on witnessing and testimony has also critiqued the suggestion that written or oral testimony can convey the realities of experiencing state power and state terror (Agamben, 1999 ), being mindful that body language and comportment can capture elements of this reality that language cannot (Bernald‐Donals & Glesjer, 2001 ; Dewsbury, 2003 ; Givoni, 2014 ).…”

Section: Witnessingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Courtwatching: Visibility, publicness, witnessing, and embodiment in legal activism

Gill

Hynes

2021

Area

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“…Moral judgments of “privileged” Jews, who are frequently labeled “collaborators,” have nonetheless permeated the collective memory of the Holocaust, as can be seen in various forms of representations, from testimonies to historical writings to films. Although a vast and ever-growing literature has explored the genre of Holocaust testimony in particular (Bernard-Donals & Glejzer, 2001; Bigsby, 2006; Felman & Laub, 1992; Miller & Tougaw, 2002; Patterson, 1998; Wieviorka 2006), and Holocaust representation in general (Cole, 2000; Eisenstein, 2003; Fridman, 2000; Kaplan, 2007; Mintz, 2001; Rothberg, 2000; Schwarz, 1999; Weissman, 2004), little attention has been afforded to the issue of “privileged” Jews. Indeed, Zoë Waxman (2006) suggests that a “factor for the delay in publishing Perechod-nik's diary might be that it draws attention away from the comforting rhetoric of heroism” (p. 38).…”

Section: Primo Levi's “Grey Zone” and The Issue Of “Privileged” Jewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma and Holocaust video testimony: The intersection of history, memory, and judgment in the interview process.

Brown¹

2009

Traumatology

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This article analyzes video testimonies recorded at the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, which address the highly complex and sensitive issue of "privileged" Jews. The so-called privileged Jews include prisoners in the Nazi-operated camps and ghettos who held positions that gave them access to material and other benefits, while compelling them to act in ways that have been judged detrimental to fellow inmates. Although the issue of "privileged" Jews has been largely neglected, it relates to a crucial facet of the Holocaust and has vast implications for its aftermath. The ethical dilemmas facing these victims may be closely linked to what Lawrence Langer has termed choiceless choices, which challenge conventional notions of "judgment" and "responsibility." This problem is also the primary subject of Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi's essay titled "The Grey Zone," which is arguably the most influential essay ever written on the Holocaust. Levi argues that one should abstain from judging individuals who confronted such extreme circumstances, positioning prisoners with "privileged" positions at the threshold of representation and understanding. However, moral evaluations of "privileged" Jews have a strong impact on Holocaust testimonies, whether these were constructed during the war or recorded long after the survivors' experiences. The examples of video testimonies explored in this article reveal that this is particularly the case when interviewees are former "privileged" Jews and interviewers are themselves Holocaust survivors. The article argues that when confronted with such an emotionally and morally fraught issue, judgment may itself be seen as a "limit of representation."

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The Belated Witness: Literature, Testimony, and the Question of Holocaust Survival

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

The Holocaust and Disciplinary Myopia in Criminology and Sociology: Social injury as a response to the challenges of legal formalism

The Holocaust and Disciplinary Myopia in Criminology and Sociology: Social injury as a response to the challenges of legal formalism

Courtwatching: Visibility, publicness, witnessing, and embodiment in legal activism

Trauma and Holocaust video testimony: The intersection of history, memory, and judgment in the interview process.

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