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GEORGES DIDI-HUBERMAN
Translated by SHANE B. LILLIS
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Chicago & London FOUR PIECES Inorde for our. OF FILM imagi SNATCHED FROM HELL
itto t that OE response that we must offer, as a de that certain prisoners snatched, for of their experience. So let us not invo much harder was it for the prisoners few shreds of which now we are tru ing them simply by looking at them. 1 time more precious and less comforti , art, snatched as they were from a wo ity. Thus, images in spite of all: in spi in spite of the risks taken. In return, take them on, and try to comprehen in spite of our own inability to loo spite of our own world, full, almost c modities.
[ ]
Of all the prisoners in Auschwitz, many the SS wanted to eradicate at members of the Sonderkommando. Tli prisoners who operated the mass e hands. The SS knew in advance that FOUR PIECES In order to know, we must imagine for ourselves. We must attempt to OF FILM imagine the hell that Auschwitz was in the summer of 1944. Let SNATCHED us not invoke the unimaginable. Let us not shelter ourselves by FROM HELL saying that we cannot, that we could not by any means, imagine it to the very end. We are obliged to that oppressive imaginable. It is a response that we must offer, as a debt to the words and images that certain prisoners snatched, for us, from the harrowing Real of their experience. So let us not invoke the unimaginable. How much harder was it for the prisoners to rip from the camps those few shreds of which now we are trustees, charged with sustain ing them simply by looking at them. Those shreds are at the same time more precious and less comforting than all possible works of art, snatched as they were from a world bent on their impossibil ity. Thus, images in spite ofall: in spite of the hell of Auschwitz, in spite of the risks taken. In return, we must contemplate them, take them on, and try to comprehend them. Images in spite ofall: in spite of our own inability to look at them as they deserve; in spite of our own world, full, almost choked, with imaginary com modities.
[ ]
Of all the prisoners in Auschwitz, those whose possible testi mony the SS wanted to eradicate at any cost were, of course, the members of the Sonderkommando. This was the "special squad" of prisoners who operated the mass extermination with their bare hands. The SS knew in advance that a single word from a surviving
[3] 4 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] member ofthe Sonderkommando would quash any denials, any sub matoria. To maintain this inhuman sequent cavils with respect to the massacre ofthe European Jews. 1 fires. To extract the human ashes fr< "Conceiving and organizing the squads was National Socialism's cent and whitish matter which flow most demonic crime," writes Primo Levi. "One is stunned by this a grayish tint when it cooled." To gri paroxysm of perfidy and of hate: it must be the Jews who put the tance of the wretched bodies to the Jews in the ovens; it must be shown that the Jews[ ...] bow to any pile it all up, to throw it into a neighl humiliation, even to destroying themselves:'2 the road being constructed near the The first Sonderkommando at Auschwitz was created on July 4, meters of human hair, which fifteen] 1942, during the "selection" of a convoy of Slovakian Jews for the large tables. To occasionally repaint gas chamber. Twelve squads succeeded each other from that date; hedges-for camouflage; to dig sup each was eliminated at the end of a few months, and "as its initia for exceptional gassings. To clean, t< tion, the next squad burnt the corpses ofits predecessors:'3 Part of crematoria. To start over each day, 1 the horror for these men was that their entire existence, including SS. To survive in this manner for ai the ineluctable gassing of the squad, was to be kept in absolute working day and night, "running L secrecy. The members ofthe Sonderkommando could therefore have finish more quicklY:'6 no contact whatsoever with the other prisoners, and even less with "They had no human figure. They whatever "outside world" there was, not even with the "nonini the prisoners who were able to seed tiated" SS, those who were ignorant of the exact functioning of for the time left to them, in the igno the gas chambers and the crematoria.4 When sick, these prisoners, who asked him how he could stand kept in solitary confinement, were denied admission to the camp of the squad replied: "Of course, I hospital. They were held in total subservience and mindlessness electrical wires, like so many ofmyf they were not denied alcohol-in their work at the crematoria. In our work, if you don't go mad th What exactly was their work? It must be repeated: to handle In a manner of speaking. Yet some v the death oftheir fellows by the thousands. To witness all the last to it" simply threw themselves into moments. To be forced to lie to the very end. (A member of the If this kind of survival surpasses : Sonderkommando who had attempted to warn the victims of their Levi wrote) 9 or any tragic conftic fate was thrown alive into the crematorium fire, and his fellows mented), 10 then what could the vc were forced to attend the execution).5 To recognize one's own straints? To revolt? That was a dig and to say nothing. To watch men, women, and children enter cide, of anticipating a promised el the gas chamber. To listen to the cries, the banging, the death a first projected rebellion failed. TI throes. To wait. Then, to receive all at once the "indescribable hu tober 1944-when, at least, crenu man heap"-a "column of basalt" made of human flesh, of their destroyed-not one of the 450 me flesh, our own flesh-that collapsed when the doors were opened. whom "only" 300 were due to beg. To drag the bodies one by one, to undress them (until the Nazis At the core of this fundamental thought of the changing room). To hose away all of the accumu probably abandoned them, condei lated blood, body fluids, and pus. To extract gold teeth for the ing them to concentrate rather on spoils of the Reich. To put the bodies in the furnaces of the ere- borders of the camp: "We, the pri [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] 5 nmando would quash any denials, any sub matoria. To maintain this inhuman routine. To feed coal to the ect to the massacre ofthe European J ews.1 fires. To extract the human ashes from that "formless, incandes izing the squads was National Socialism's cent and whitish matter which flowed in rivulets [and] took on ,rites Primo Levi. "One is stunned by this a grayish tint when it cooled:' To grind the bones, the final resis l ofhate: it must be the Jews who put the tance of the wretched bodies to their industrial destruction. To It be shown that the Jews [... ] bow to any pile it all up, to throw it into a neighboring river or use it as fill for ttoying themselves:'2 the road being constructed near the camp. To walk on 150 square ando at Auschwitz was created on July 4, meters of human hair, which fifteen prisoners are busy carding on on" ofa convoy of Slovakian Jews for the large tables. To occasionally repaint the changing room; to erect aads succeeded each other from that date; hedges-for camouflage; to dig supplementary incineration pits he end ofa few months, and "as its initia for exceptional gassings. To clean, to repair the giant ovens ofthe llt the corpses ofits predecessors:'3 Part of crematoria. To start over each day, constantly threatened by the .was that their entire existence, including SS. To survive in this manner for an indeterminate time, drunk, of the squad, was to be kept in absolute working day and night, "running like the possessed in order to the Sonderkommando could therefore have finish more quicklY:'6 ith the other prisoners, and even less with "They had no human figure. They were ravaged, mad faces;' said i" there was, not even with the "nonini the prisoners who were able to see them.7 They survived, however, ere ignorant of the exact functioning of for the time left to them, in the ignominy ofthe job. To a prisoner : crematoria. 4 When sick, these prisoners, who asked him how he could stand work of that kind, a member 1ent, were denied admission to the camp of the squad replied: "Of course, I could throw myself onto the in total subservience and mindlessness electrical wires, like so many of my friends, but I want to live [... ] . ohol-in their work at the crematoria. In our work, if you don't go mad the first day, you get used to it:·s ir work? It must be repeated: to handle In a manner of speaking. Yet some who thought themselves "used •by the thousands. To witness all the last to it" simply threw themselves into the fire. to lie to the very end. (A member of the If this kind of survival surpasses any moral judgment (as Primo d attempted to warn the victims of their Levi wrote) 9 or any tragic conflict (as Giorgio Agamben com to the crematorium fire, and his fellows mented),10 then what could the verb to resist mean in such con 1e execution).5 To recognize one's own straints? To revolt? That was a dignified ~ay of committing sui watch men, women, and children enter cide, of anticipating a promised elimination. At the end of 1942, en to the cries, the banging, the death a first projected rebellion failed. Then, in the great mutiny of Oc receive all at once the "indescribable hu tober 1944-when, at least, crematorium IV was set ablaze and of basalt" made of human flesh, of their destroyed-not one of the 450 members implicated survived, of tcollapsed when the doors were opened. whom "only" 300 were due to be gassed soon in any case. 11 'Y one, to undress them (until the Nazis At the core of this fundamental despair, the "impulse to resist" room). To hose away all of the accumu probably abandoned them, condemned as they were to die, leav ' and pus. To extract gold teeth for the ing them to concentrate rather on signals to be emitted beyond the lt the bodies in the furnaces of the ere- borders of the camp: "We, the prisoners of the Sonderkommando, 6 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ]
kept thinking about how we might make known to the world the It is troubling that a desire to snatc details of the gruesome crimes which were perpetuated here:·12 So at the most indescribable moment, i in April 1944, Filip Miiller patiently gathered some documents-a the massacre ofthe Jews: the moment plan ofcrematoria IV and V, a note on their operation, a list ofthe pefied, had room left for neither tho Nazis on duty as well as a Zyklon B label-and passed them along space,gaze,thought,pathos-evCl) to two prisoners who were attempting escape. 13 Such an attempt, machinelike enormity of the violen as all of the Sonderkommando knew; was hopeless. This is why they of1944 came the "tidal wave" of Hw sometimes confided their testimonies to the earth. Digs under were deported to Auschwitz betwe taken around the borders ofthe Auschwitz crematoria have since Claude Pressac (whose scientific scr brought to light-often long after the Liberation -the devastat any adjectives or any empathetic pb ing, barely legible writings of these slaves of death.14 Bottles cast "most demented episode of Birkeru 18 into the earth, as it were, except that the writers did not always have crematoria II, III, and V. In a single bottles in which to preserve their message. At best, a tin bowl. 15 were exterminated. Toward the et These writings are haunted by two complementary constraints. a shortage of Zyklon B. So "the unf First, there is the ineluctable obliteration of the witness himself: victims selected for immediate cleat "The SS often tell us that they won't let a single witness survive." burning pits ofcrematorium V and< But then there was the fear that the testimony itself would be burned alive. As for the gypsies, the: obliterated, even if it were transmitted to the outside; for did it from August 1. not risk being incomprehensible, being considered senseless, un As usual, the members of the Stl imaginable? "What exactly happened;' as Zalmen Lewental con crematoria had to prepare the entir fided to the scrap of paper that he was preparing to bury in the mare. Filip Miiller remembers how ground, "no other human being can imagine."16 the crematoria": Cracks in the brickwork ofthe ovc [ ] fireproof clay paste; the cast-irot and the door hinges oiled[ ...]. N It is in the fold between these two impossibilities-the imminent generators, while the six chimney obliteration of the witness, the certain unrepresentability of the spection and repair, as did the elc testimony-that the photographic image suddenly appeared. four changing rooms and the eigl One summer day in 1944, the members of the Sonderkommando felt a fresh coat of paint. Quite obvim the perilous need to snatch some photographs from their infernal tended to put the places ofexterm work that would bear witness to the specific horror and extent to guarantee smooth and continu of the massacre. The need to snatch some photographs from the real. Moreover, since an image is made to be looked at by others, Above all, on the orders ofHauptd to snatch from human thought in general, thought from "outside;' ularly feared and hated SS officer w something imaginable that no one until then had even conceived of the liquidation of the Sonderlunt as possible-and this is already saying a lot, since the whole thing incineration pits were to be dug in was planned before being put into practice. rium V. Filip Muller has described. [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] 7 wwe might make known to the world the It is troubling that a desire to snatch an image should materialize crimes which were perpetuated here." 12 So at the most indescribable moment, as it is often characterized, of er patiently gathered some documents-a the massacre ofthe Jews: the moment when those who assisted, stu ldV, a note on their operation, a list ofthe pefied, had room left for neither thought nor imagination. Time, a Zyklon B label-and passed them along space, gaze, thought, pathos-everything was obfuscated by the ere attempting escape. 13 Such an attempt, machinelike enormity of the violence produced. In the summer uulo knew, was hopeless. This is why they of1944 came the "tidal wave" of Hungarian Jews: 435,000 ofthem eir testimonies to the earth. Digs under were deported to Auschwitz between May 15 and July 8. 17 Jean :rs ofthe Auschwitz crematoria have since Claude Pressac (whose scientific scrupulousness generally avoids 1Iong after the Liberation -the devastat any adjectives or any empathetic phrases) wrote that this was the ings of these slaves of death. 14 Bottles cast "most demented episode ofBirkenau;' carried out essentially in :xcept that the writers did not always have crematoria II, III, and V. 18 In a single day, 24,000 Hungarian Jews erve their message. At best, a tin bowl. 15 were exterminated. Toward the end of the summer, there was unted by two complementary constraints. a shortage ofZyklon B. So "the unfit from the convoys [i.e., the :table obliteration of the witness himself: victims selected for immediate death] were cast directly into the lt they won't let a single witness survive." burning pits ofcrematorium V and of bunker 2;'19 in other words, · fear that the testimony itself would be burned alive. As for the gypsies, they began to be gassed en masse ere transmitted to the outside; for did it from August 1. :hensible, being considered senseless, un As usual, the members of the Sonderkommando posted at the :tly happened," as Zalmen Lewental con crematoria had to prepare the entire infrastructure of this night per that he was preparing to bury in the mare. Filip Miiller remembers how they proceeded to "overhaul an being can imagine."16 the crematoria": Cracks in the brickwork ofthe ovens were filled with a special [ ] fireproof clay paste; the cast-iron doors were painted black and the door hinges oiled[ ...]. New grates were fitted in the these two impossibilities-the imminent generators, while the six chimneys underwent a thorough in ess, the certain unrepresentability of the spection and repair, as did the electric fans. The walls of the botographic image suddenly appeared. four changing rooms and the eight gas chambers were given ~ the members of the Sonderkommando felt a fresh coat of paint. Quite obviously all these efforts were in :ch some photographs from their infernal tended to put the places ofextermination into peak condition vitness to the specific horror and extent to guarantee smooth and continuous operation."20 =cl to snatch some photographs from the image is made to be looked at by others, Above all, on the orders ofHauptscharfiihrer Otto Moll-a partic 1ought in general, thought from "outside;' ularly feared and hated SS officer who had taken personal charge iat no one until then had even conceived of the liquidation of the Sonderkommando from 1942 on21 -five LI.ready saying a lot, since the whole thing incineration pits were to be dug in the open air, behind cremato ig put into practice. rium V. Filip Miiller has described in detail the technical experi- 8 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] mentation and the management of the site led by Moll: from the During the day-shift there were, • conception of gutters to collect the fat, to the concrete slab on working in and round crematoria r which the "workers" would have to pulverize the bones mixed bearers were employed in clearini with the human ashes; 22 to the elevated hedgerows forming a moving the corpses to the pits[... : screen to make all of this invisible from the exterior (fig. 1). It is The SS guards on their watch-t significant that, apart from far-off aerial views, not one single view wire which encircled the area arow: exists of crematorium V-situated in a copse of birch trees, from upset by the ghoulish spectacle[ ...] which Birkenau gets its name-that is not obscured by some plant heat a few of the dead began to stii barrier23 (fig. 2). some unbearable pain, arms and leg To snatch an image from that hell? It seemed doubly impos and even their bodies straightenin sible. It was impossible by default, since the detail of the installa ally the fire became so fierce that d tions was concealed, sometimes underground. But also, outside by flames. Blisters which had form of their work under the strict control of the SS, members of the by one. Almost every corpse was c Sonderkommando were carefully confined in a "subterranean and marks and glistened as if it had t 24 isolated celI:' It was impossible by excess, since the vision ofthis heat had burst open their bellies: 1 monstrous, complex chain seemed to exceed any attempt to docu ing and sputtering offrying in grea ment it. Filip Miiller wrote that "in comparison with what [Otto incineration took five to six hours. Moll] had imagined and what he had begun to undertake, Dante's a third of the pit. The shiny whiti1 Hell was only child's play":25 with countless skulls [... ]. As soc down a little, wooden metal-cov1 As it began to grow light, the fire was lit in two of the pits into the pit. Prisoners of the ash tc in which about 2,500 dead bodies lay piled one on top of gan to shovel out the still hot ash• the other. Two hours later all that could be discerned in the and berets gave them some make white-hot flames were countless charred and scorched shapes kept blowing down on them, esp [... ] . While in the crematorium ovens, once the corpses were causing severe facial bums and eyi thoroughly alight, it was possible to maintain a lasting red blindness, so that after a short time heat with the help of fans, in the pits the fire would burn as tective goggles. long as the air could circulate freely in between the bodies. Once the pits had been emptiecl As the heap of bodies settled, no air was able to get in from ash depot, they were piled up in m outside. This meant that we stokers had constantly to pour oil or wood alcohol on the burning corpses, in addition to [ ] human fat, large quantities of which had collected and was boiling in the two collecting pans on either side ofthe pit. The To snatch an image from that, in spi sizzling fat was scooped out with buckets on a long curved cost, form had to be given to this w rod and poured all over the pit causing flames to leap up amid sibilities for escape or of revolt were much crackling and hissing. Dense smoke and fumes rose in the mere sending ofan image or ofinf cessantly. The air reeked of oil, fat, benzole and burnt flesh. names-wasoftheutmosturgency, [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL] 9 iagcment of the site led by Moll: from the During the day-shift there were, on average, 140 prisoners :o collect the fat, to the concrete slab on working in and round crematoria IV and V. Some twenty-five ould have to pulverize the bones mixed bearers were employed in clearing the gas chamber and re 22 to the elevated hedgerows forming a moving the corpses to the pits[ ...). lis invisible from the exterior (fig. 1). It is The SS guards on their watch-towers beyond the barbed :'Om far-off aerial views, not one single view wire which encircled the area around the pits [... ] were badly '-situated in a copse ofbirch trees, from upset by the ghoulish spectacle [... ] . Under the ever-increasing wne-that is not obscured by some plant heat a few of the dead began to stir, writhing as though with some unbearable pain, arms and legs straining in slow motion, from that hell? It seemed doubly impos and even their bodies straightening up a little [... ). Eventu by default, since the detail of the installa ally the fire became so fierce that the corpses were enveloped metimes underground. But also, outside by flames. Blisters which had formed on their skin burst one : strict control of the SS, members of the by one. Almost every corpse was covered with black scorch arefully confined in a "subterranean and marks and glistened as if it had been greased. The searing :possible by excess, since the vision of this heat had burst open their bellies: there was the violent hiss iin seemed to exceed any attempt to docu ing and sputtering offrying in great heat[... ). The process of ote that "in comparison with what [Otto incineration took five to six hours. What was left barely filled what he had begun to undertake, Dante's a third of the pit. The shiny whitish-gray surface was strewn y":25 with countless skulls [... ).As soon as the ashes had cooled down a little, wooden metal-covered boards were thrown ight, the fire was lit in two of the pits into the pit. Prisoners of the ash team climbed down and be , dead bodies lay piled one on top of gan to shovel out the still hot ashes. Although their mittens later all that could be discerned in the and berets gave them some make-shift protection, hot ashes : countless charred and scorched shapes kept blowing down on them, especially when it was windy, IIlatorium ovens, once the corpses were causing severe facial burns and eye injuries, sometimes even was possible to maintain a lasting red blindness, so that after a short time they were issued with pro fans, in the pits the fire would burn as tective goggles. :irculate freely in between the bodies. Once the pits had been emptied and the ashes taken to the , settled, no air was able to get in from ash depot, they were piled up in man-high heaps.26 hat we stokers had constantly to pour •n the burning corpses, in addition to [ ] 1tities of which had collected and was :cting pans on either side of the pit. The To snatch an image from that, in spite of that? Yes. Whatever the cd out with buckets on a long curved cost, form had to be given to this unimaginable reality. The pos :r the pit causing flames to leap up amid sibilities for escape or ofrevolt were so limited at Auschwitz that issing. Dense smoke and fumes rose in the mere sending ofan image or of information -a plan, numbers, :cd of oil, fat, benzole and burnt flesh. names-was ofthe utmost urgency, one ofthe last gestures ofhu- 10 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL]
manity. Some prisoners had managed to listen to the BBC in the get it into the hands of the members ofd offices they were cleaning. Others managed to send calls for help. camera probably contained only a small j "The isolation of the outside world was part of the psychological For the shooting, a collective lookout pressure exercised on the prisoners," wrote Hermann Langbein. roof of crematorium V was deliberately "Among the efforts to defend oneself from the psychic terrorism, squad members were sent by the SS to there were obviously those that sought to break the isolation. For David Szmulewski could be on watch: h the morale of the prisoners, this last factor increased in impor bly the guards in nearby observation pc tance year by year as the military situation unfolded."27 On their with overseeing the work of the Sonderl side, the leaders of the Polish Resistance were in 1944 demand bottom of a bucket, the camera got into ing photographs. According to a witness's account collected by called Alex, still unidentified today, for Langbein, a civilian worker managed to smuggle in a camera and ily name. He was positioned on the 101 incineration pits, where he was suppose members of the squad. The terrible paradox of this darkroon move the camera from the bucket, adju/ close to his face, and take a first seque
Figure 1. Anonymous {German). Hedge for camouflage at crematorium Vof Auschwitz, 1943-1944. Oswiecim, Figure 2. Anonymous {German). Crematorium V Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (negative no. 860). Oswiecim, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (n [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] 11
' rs had managed to listen to the BBC in the get it into the hands ofthe members of the Sonderkommando. 28 The ing. Others managed to send calls for help. camera probably contained only a small piece of blank film. utside world was part of the psychological For the shooting, a collective lookout had to be organized. The ~ ~ the prisoners," wrote Hermann Langbein. roof of crematorium V was deliberately damaged so that certain defend oneself from the psychic terrorism, squad members were sent by the SS to repair it. From up there, hose that sought to break the isolation. For David Szmulewski could be on watch: he observed those-nota soners, this last factor increased in impor bly the guards in nearby observation posts-who were charged lthe military situation unfolded."27 On their with overseeing the work of the Sonderkommando. Hidden at the e Polish Resistance were in 1944 demand bottom of a bucket, the camera got into the hands of a Greek Jew ording to a witness's account collected by called Alex, still unidentified today, for we do not know his fam orker managed to smuggle in a camera and ily name. He was positioned on the lower level, in front of the incineration pits, where he was supposed to work with the other members of the squad. The terrible paradox of this darkroom was that in order to re move the camera from the bucket, adjust the viewfinder, bring it close to his face, and take a first sequence of images (figs. 3-4),
s (German). Hedge for camouflage at uschwitz, 1943-1944. Oswiecim, Figure 2. Anonymous (German). Crematorium V of Auschwitz, 1943-1944. State Museum (negative no. 860). Oswiecim, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (negative no. 20995/508). 12 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] the photographer had to hide in the gas chamber, itself barely the second view is a little more frontal emptied-perhaps incompletely-ofvictims. He steps back into is more hazardous. But also, paradoxic the dark space. The slant and the darkness in which he stands sharper. It is as though fear had disapp protect him. Emboldened, he changes direction and advances: face of necessity, the business of snatc
Figures 3-4. Anonymous (member of the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz). gas chamber of crematorium V of Auschwitz, Ni Cremation of gassed bodies in the open-air incineration pits in front of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (negative n [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] 13 had to hide in the gas chamber, itself barely the second view is a little more frontal and slightly closer. So it incompletely-ofvictims. He steps back into is more hazardous. But also, paradoxically, it is more posed: it is e slant and the darkness in which he stands sharper. It is as though fear had disappeared for an instant in the ~ poldened, he changes direction and advances: face of necessity, the business of snatching an image. And we see
,us (member of the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz). gas chamber of crematorium V of Auschwitz, August 1944. Oswiecim, pdies in the open-air incineration pits in front of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (negative nos. 277-278). [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL] the everyday work of the other members of the squad, which is that the photograph has captured fo that ofsnatching the last human semblance from the cadavers, still copse. The wind is blowing from th sprawled on the ground. The gestures of the living tell the weight east29 ("In August of1944," remember of the bodies and the task of making immediate decisions. Pulling, in Auschwitz. A torrid, tropical wind dragging, throwing. The smoke, behind, comes from the incin the buildings wrecked by the air raids eration pits: bodies arranged quincuncially, 1.5 meters deep, the and thickened the blood in our veins crackling of fat, odors, shriveling of human matter-everything Having hidden the camera-in his of which Filip Muller speaks is there, under the screen of smoke a patch of his clothes?-the "unkno
Figures 5-6. Anonymous (member of the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz). August 1944. Oswiecim, Auschwitz-Birkenau Women being pushed toward the gas chamber at crematorium V of Auschwitz, (negative nos. 282-283). [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL] 15 of the other members of the squad, which is that the photograph has captured for us. Behind is the birch-tree .e last human semblance from the cadavers, still copse. The wind is blowing from the north, perhaps the north bund. The gestures of the living tell the weight east29 ("In August of1944," remembers Primo Levi, "it was very hot le task of making immediate decisions. Pulling, in Auschwitz. A torrid, tropical wind, lifted clouds of dust from ~. The smoke, behind, comes from the incin the buildings wrecked by the air raids, dried the sweat on our skin , arranged quincuncially, 1.5 meters deep, the and thickened the blood in our veins:') 30 rs, shriveling of human matter-everything Having hidden the camera-in his hand, or in the bucket, or in er speaks is there, under the screen of smoke a patch of his clothes?-the "unknown photographer" now ven-
(member of the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz). August 1944. Oswiecim, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ard the gas chamber at crematorium V of Auschwitz, (negative nos. 282-283). [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL] tures out of the crematorium. He hugs the wall. Twice he turns to The bodies in the foreground are w the right. He finds himself then on the other side of the building, the fire. Another picture shows om to the south, and advances in the open air toward the birch trees. est where people undress before "s~ There too, the hell continues: a "convoy" of women, already un told-and then go to the gas chaml dressed, gets ready to enter the gas chamber. The SS are about. It as you can. Send the enclosed phot is simply not possible to take out the camera, even less possible to largements of the photos can be sen aim it. The "unknown photographer" takes two snapshots, fur tively, without looking, perhaps even while walking (figs. 5-6). On one of the two images-visibly deprived of orthogonality, or "correct" orientation-we can see in the far left corner a whole group of women who seem to be walking or awaiting their turn. Nearer, three other women are headed in the opposite direction. The image is very blurred. We can see, however, a member of the Sonderkommando in profile, recognizable by his cap. At the very bottom, to the right, we can make out the chimney of the crema torium. The other image is practically abstract: we can just make out the top of the birch trees. Facing south, the photographer has the light in his eyes. The image is dazzled by the sun, its rays cut ting through the boughs. Alex then returns to the crematorium, probably to the north side. Hastily he returns the camera to David Szmulewski, who has stayed up on the roof, on the lookout for potential movements by the SS. The entire operation will have taken no more than fifteen to twenty minutes. Szmulewski would replace the camera in the bottom ofhis bucket.31 The piece offilm would be removed from the camera, brought back to the central camp, and eventually ex tricated from Auschwitz in a tube of toothpaste in which Helena Danton, an employee of the SS canteen, will have hidden it.32 A little later, on September 4, 1944, it would reach the Polish Resis tance in Krakow, accompanied by a note written by two political prisoners, J6sef Cyrankiewicz and Stanislaw Klodzinski:
Urgent. Send two metal rolls of film for 6x9 as fast as possi ble. Have possibility of taking photos. Sending you photos of Birkenau showing prisoners sent to gas chambers. One photo shows one of the stakes at which bodies were burned when the crematorium could not manage to burn all the bodies. [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL FOUR PIECES OF FILM SNATCHED FROM HELL ] 17 torium. He hugs the wall. Twice he turns to The bodies in the foreground are waiting to be thrown into rself then on the other side of the building, the fire. Another picture shows one of the places in the for Jnces in the open air toward the birch trees. est where people undress before "showering" -as they were ntinues: a "convoy" of women, already un told-and then go to the gas chambers. Send film roll as fast enter the gas chamber. The SS are about. It as you can. Send the enclosed photos to Tell-we think en Ito take out the camera, even less possible to largements of the photos can be sent further. 33 photographer" takes two snapshots, fur g, perhaps even while walking (figs. 5-6). ges-visibly deprived of orthogonality, or -we can see in the far left corner a whole seem to be walking or awaiting their turn. men are headed in the opposite direction. red. We can see, however, a member of the ofile, recognizable by his cap. At the very e can make out the chimney of the crema ge is practically abstract: we can just make trees. Facing south, the photographer has e image is dazzled by the sun, its rays cut ,hs. 'o the crematorium, probably to the north the camera to David Szmulewski, who has on the lookout for potential movements by 1 ration will have taken no more than fifteen 1mulewski would replace the camera in the 1 The piece offilm would be removed from ack to the central camp, and eventually ex ,1 'tz in a tube of toothpaste in which Helena of the SS canteen, will have hidden it.32 A er 4, 1944, it would reach the Polish Resis mpanied by a note written by two political I kiewicz and Stanislaw Klodzinski: etal rolls of film for 6x9 as fast as possi of taking photos. Sending you photos of risoners sent to gas chambers. One photo takes at which bodies were burned when uld not manage to burn all the bodies. AGAINST ALL "Sent furtl Wemayhj UNIMAGINABLE members (whower massacre ages were morewes ture,and where su said to be photographs snatched by the Sonderkom in Auschwitz address the unimaginable, an rowing way. In order to refute the unimag the collective risk of dying and, worse, o ment reserved for this kind ofattempt: to abominable procedure that SS Wilhelm B "writing machine." 1 "Sent further": the four images sn Auschwitz address two spaces, two dis imaginable. What they refute, first of all, was fomented by the very organization o a Jewish member of the Resistance in L in supposedly well-informed circles, ca he was incapable ofimagining Auschwit be said of the rest of the world? In Hann Nazis "were totally convinced that one o the success of their enterprise rested on ti outside could believe it."3 The fact that sometimes received but "repressed beca
Figure 7. JozefCyrankiewicz and Stanislaw Klodz the Polish Resistance, September 4, 1944. Oswieci1 Museum. . /'.,/. - , . . ""'"( ..... ___, . ...; ",...... ,. ~ '-
[19] 20 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE] would follow Primo Levi to his nightmares. To suffer, to survive, is the jargon of the camp and its effe to tell, and then not to be believed because it is unimaginable.4 It perverse misappropriation of the Ger is as though a fundamental injustice continued to follow the sur of German culture. 13 Finally, there is vivors all the way to their vocation of being witnesses. the words uttered by the Nazis. Cons Numerous researchers have carried out detailed analyses ofthe expression Schutzstajfel, which is abb machinery ofdisimagination that made it possible for an SS officer "protection;' "sheltering;' "safeguard· to say: "There will perhaps be suspicion, discussion, research by neutrality of the adjective sonder-whi historians, but there will be no certainties, because we will destroy gular;' "special" even "strange" or "biza the evidence together with you. And even if some proofshould re Sonderbehandlung, "special treatment" main and some of you survive, people will say that the events you by gas); Sonderbau; "special building" C describe are too monstrous to be believed."5 The "Final Solution," reserved for the "privileged"); and, o as we know, was kept in absolute secrecy-silence and smothered When, in the midst of this coded lan information.6 But as the details of the extermination began to fil something what it really is-for exa ter through, "almost from the beginning ofthe massacres,"7 silence administration, in a message on Marc needed a reciprocal discourse. It involved rhetoric, lying, an entire sion Gaskammer, "gas chamber" -one strategy of words that Hannah Arendt defined in 1942 as the "elo ine lapse. 14 quence of the devil."8 What the words seek to obfuscate i The four photographs snatched from Auschwitz by members of human beings, the very program ofthis the Sonderkommando were also, therefore, four refutations snatched was not nearly enough, because the from a world that the Nazis wanted to obfuscate, to leave word "obliterated" in the eyes of the "Final less and imageless. Analyses of the concentration camp have long privation of a grave (the greatest insu converged on the fact that the camps were laboratories, experi the Nazis concentrated, rationally or mental machines for a general obliteration. It was the obliteration of single trace;' and on obliterating every the psyche and the disintegration of the social link, as Bruno Bet the insanity ofAktion 1005, when the S telheim's analysis showed as early as 1943, when he was just out sands of cadavers buried in common from eighteen months in Buchenwald and Dachau: "The concen victims of course), in order to crem tration camp was the Gestapo's laboratory for subjecting [. . .] free reinter their ashes in the countryside men[ ...] to the process of disintegration from their position as The end of the "Final Solution" autonomous individuals."9 In 1950, Hannah Arendt spoke of the "end": its aim, its last stage, but also· camps as "laboratories of an experience of total domination [... ] , tary defeat of the Nazis-called for this objective being attainable only in the extreme circumstances the obliteration of the tools of the oblit of a hell of human making." 10 was destroyed in January 1945 by the It was also a hell made by humans for the obliteration of the lan explosive charges were needed, one o guage of their victims. "It is an obvious assertion that where vio ful, was placed in the fireproof ove lence is inflicted on man," writes Primo Levi, "it is also inflicted on make Auschwitz unimaginable. Aft 11 language." There is the silence imposed by isolation itself. There find yourself in the very place from \l [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] 21 Levi to his nightmares. To suffer, to survive, is the jargon of the camp and its effects of terror. 12 There is the to be believed because it is unimaginable.4 It perverse misappropriation of the German language and therefore ental injustice continued to follow the sur of German culture. 13 Finally, there is the lie, the perpetual lie in their vocation of being witnesses. the words uttered by the Nazis. Consider the innocence of the hers have carried out detailed analyses ofthe expression Schutzstaffel, which is abbreviated as SS and denotes £nation that made it possible for an SS officer "protection," "sheltering," "safeguarding" (Schutz). Consider the erhaps be suspicion, discussion, research by neutrality ofthe adjective sander-which means "separated," "sin will be no certainties, because we will destroy gular;' "special" even "strange" or "bizarre" -in expressions such as ~r with you. And even ifsome proofshould re Sonderbehandlung, "special treatment" (in reality, putting to death u survive, people will say that the events you by gas); Sonderbau; "special building" (in reality, the camp's brothel strous to be believed." 5 The "Final Solution," reserved for the "privileged"); and, of course, Sonderkommando. in absolute secrecy-silence and smothered When, in the midst of this coded language, an SS member calls the details of the extermination began to fil something what it really is-for example, when the Auschwitz lfrom the beginning ofthe massacres," 7 silence administration, in a message on March 2, 1943, lets slip the expres iscourse. It involved rhetoric, lying, an entire sion Gaskammer, "gas chamber" -one must consider that a genu ~t Hannah Arendt defined in 1942 as the "elo- 14 s ine lapse. What the words seek to obfuscate is ofcourse the obliteration of ~phs snatched from Auschwitz by members of human beings, the very program ofthis vast "laboratory:' To murder 1Were also, therefore, four refutations snatched was not nearly enough, because the dead were never sufficiently e Nazis wanted to obfuscate, to leave word "obliterated" in the eyes of the "Final Solution." Well beyond the ralyses of the concentration camp have long privation of a grave (the greatest insult to the dead in antiquity), ct that the camps were laboratories, experi the Nazis concentrated, rationally or irrationally, on "leaving no a general obliteration. It was the obliteration of single trace," and on obliterating every remnant ... Which explains !integration of the social link, as Bruno Bet the insanity ofAktion 1005, when the SS had the hundreds ofthou pwed as early as 1943, when he was just out sands of cadavers buried in common graves exhumed (by future ~sin Buchenwald and Dachau: "The concen victims of course), in order to cremate them and to disperse or lGestapo's laboratory for subjecting[ ...] free reinter their ashes in the countryside. 15 fess of disintegration from their position as The end of the "Final Solution" -in all senses of the word flals." 9 In 1950, Hannah Arendt spoke of the "end": its aim, its last stage, but also its interruption by the mili (s of an experience of total domination [. ..] , tary defeat of the Nazis-called for a new enterprise, which was ainable only in the extreme circumstances ng:•10 the obliteration of the tools of the obliteration. Thus, crematorium V was destroyed in January 1945 by the SS itself. No less than nine ~de by humans for the obliteration the Ian of explosive charges were needed, one of which, being very power ,. "It is an obvious assertion that where vio- ful, was placed in the fireproof ovens. 16 Yet another attempt to 1an," writes Primo Levi, "it is also inflicted on make Auschwitz unimaginable. After the Liberation, you could !he silence imposed by isolation itself. There find yourself in the very place from which the four photographs 22 [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] were snatched a few months earlier, and see nothing but ruins, their victims believed it too, and many peo1 17 devastated sites, or "non-places" (fig. 8). "reason in history" is always subjected to 1 Filip Muller, moreover, specified that up to its destruction, ever minor, however dispersed, however un crematorium V continued "burning the corpses of prisoners who desperate it be-of particular facts that re1 had died in the main and auxiliary camps" while the gassing of the memory, its imaginable possibility. The arc Jews had already been interrupted. Members of the Sonderkom fine what is certainly an incomplete, fragm mando then had to burn, under strict surveillance, all "prisoners' a territory that has survived and truly exist documents, card indexes, death certificates, and scores of other 1 documents. ~" It was with the tools of obliteration that archives [ ] the memory ofthe obliteration-had to be obliterated. It was a way of keeping the obliteration forever in its unimaginable condition. Photography, from this angle, shows a pa: There is a perfect coherence between Goebbels's discourse, trated by certain well- or lesser-known ex: analyzed in 1942 by Hannah Arendt according to its central mo fiercest will to obliterate. It is technically v tif, "No one will say Kaddish" 19 -in other words, we will murder tograph. It can be done for so many differe11 you without remains and without memory-and the systematic public or private, admitted or concealed, j destruction of the archives of the destruction by the SS itself at of violence or in protest against it, and s1 the end of the war. Indeed "the forgetting of the extermination film - so small that it can be hidden in a t is part of the extermination:'20 The Nazis no doubt believed they capable of engendering an unlimited nu~ were making the Jews invisible, and making their very destruc erations and enlargements in every forma tion invisible. They took such pains in this endeavor that many of hand in glove with image and memory a1 their notable epidemic power. 24 For this rea as difficult to eradicate in Auschwitz as wa! of the prisoners. What do we mean when we refer to " the state secret decreed at the place whe tion occured. It is the absolute prohibitio Einsatzgruppen's enormous acts of abuse in put up on the walls and fences around t verboten! No entry! You will be shot wit It is the circular sent around by Rudolf Auschwitz, dated February 2,194} "I woul again that taking photographs within th den. I will be very strict in treating those order."27 But to prohibit was to want to stop an Figure 8. Anonymous {Russian). Ruins of crematorium V of Auschwitz, 1945- had already begun and that could not stop 1946. Oswiecim, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum {negative no. 908). sovereign as that of an unconscious desire [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF All AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] 23 months earlier, and see nothing but ruins, their victims believed it too, and many people still do today.21 But non-places" 17 (fig. 8). "reason in history" is always subjected to the refutation -how ,reover, specified th:it up to its destruction, ever minor, however dispersed, however unconscious, or however ·nued "burning the corpses of prisoners who desperate it be-of particular facts that remain most precious to and auxiliary camps" while the gassing of the memory, its imaginable possibility. The archives of the Shoah de en interrupted. Members of the Sonderkom fine what is certainly an incomplete, fragmentary territory-but urn, under strict surveillance, all "prisoners' a territory that has survived and truly exists.22 exes, death certificates, and scores of other 1with the tools of obliteration that archives- [ ] 1teration-had to be obliterated. It was a way of tion forever in its unimaginable condition. Photography, from this angle, shows a particular ability-illus coherence between Goebbels's discourse, trated by certain well- or lesser-known examples23-to curb the annah Arendt according to its central mo fiercest will to obliterate. It is technically very easy to take a pho Kaddish"19-in other words, we will murder tograph. It can be done for so many different reasons, good or bad, f and without memory-and the systematic public or private, admitted or concealed, as the active extension rchives of the destruction by the SS itself at of violence or in protest against it, and so on. A simple piece of ~deed "the forgetting of the extermination film-so small that it can be hidden in a tube of toothpaste-is ination."20 The Nazis no doubt believed they capable of engendering an unlimited number of prints, of gen s invisible, and making their very destruc erations and enlargements in every format. Photography works ok such pains in this endeavor that many of hand in glove with image and memory and therefore possesses their notable epidemic power. 24 For this reason, photography was as difficult to eradicate in Auschwitz as was memory in the bodies of the prisoners. What do we mean when we refer to "Reason in history"? It is the state secret decreed at the place where the mass extermina tion occured. It is the absolute prohibition of photographing the Einsatzgruppen's enormous acts of abuse in 1941.25 It is the notices put up on the walls and fences around the camps: "Fotografieren verboten! No entry! You will be shot without prior warning!"26 It is the circular sent around by Rudolf Hoss, the commander at Auschwitz, dated February 2, 1943: "I would like to point out once again that taking photographs within the camp limits is forbid den. I will be very strict in treating those who refuse to obey this order."27 But to prohibit was to want to stop an epidemic ofimages that sian). Ruins of crematorium V of Auschwitz, 1945- had already begun and that could not stop. Its movement seems as i-Birkenau State Museum (negative no. 908). sovereign as that of an unconscious desire. The ruse of the image [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] versus reason in history: photographs circulated everywhere - remain, despite its systematic destructic those images in sp£te ofall-for the best and the worst reasons. much about the probable size and horror c They began with the ghastly shots ofthe massacres committed by filled the files when the camp was in opera the Einsatzgruppen, photographs generally taken by the murder ers themselves.28 Rudolf Hoss did not hesitate either, in spite of [ ] his own circular, to present Otto Thierack, the minister of justice, with an album of photographs taken at Auschwitz.29 On the one A single look at this remnant ofimages, or < hand, this use ofphotography verged on a pornography of killing. · in spite ofall, is enough to sense that Auscl On the othei; hand, the Nazi administration was so anchored in its spoken of in those absolute terms-gene habits ofrecording-with its pride, its bureaucratic narcissism - apparently philosophical, but actually la that it tended to register and photograph everything that was "unimaginable." The four photographs ta done in the camp, even though the gassing of the Jews remained the members of the Sonderkommando add a "state secret." with which the Shoah is so often credited Two photography laboratories, no less, were in operation at second period of the unimaginable: tragi< Auschwitz. It seems astonishing in such a place. However, every it. Auschwitz has been called unthinkable.] thing can be expected from a capital as complex as Auschwitz, shown that it is precisely where thought f even if it was the capital of the execution and obliteration of hu persist in our thought or, rather, give it a man beings by the millions. In the first laboratory, attached to the that Auschwitz exceeds any existing juridi, "identification service" (Erkennungsdienst), ten to twelve prisoners of fault or of justice, then political scieni worked permanently under the direction of SS officers Bernhardt thought entirely. 34 And if we believe that Walter and Ernst Hofmann, suggesting an intense production of existing political thought, even anthropc images here. These consisted mainly ofdescriptive portraits of po think the very foundations of the human s litical prisoners. Photos ofexecutions, of people being tortured, or The historian's role is, of course, cruci ofcharred bodies were shot and developed by SS members them ans cannot and must not "accept that the selves. The second laboratory, which was smaller, was the "office genocide ofthe Jews be neglected by releg of constructions" (Zentralbauleitung). Opened at the end of 1941 able. [The genocide] was thought, it was or the beginning of1942, it was directed by the SS officer Dietrich This is also the direction taken by Primo Kamann, who put together an entire photographic archive on the the speculations on the "incommunicabili1 camp installations. 30 Nor must we forget the whole "medical" ico camp testimony.37 The very existence and nography of the monstrous experiments by JosefMengele and his testimony-its enunciation in spite ofal/ associates on the women, men, and children of Auschwitz.31 the closed notion, of an unsayable Auschwi Toward the end of the war, while the Nazis were burning the of speech that testimony invites us, comp, archives en masse, the prisoners who served them as slaves for that It is harsh work, since what it concerns is task availed themselves of the general confusion to save-to di at work, with the inarticulate cries and· t vert, hide, disperse-as many images as they could. Today, around plied.38 To speak of Auschwitz in terms of forty thousand photographs ofthis documentation of Auschwitz bring oneself closer to Auschwitz. On the c [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] 25 ttory: photographs circulated everywhere remain, despite its systematic destruction. Their survival says f of all-for the best and the worst reasons. much about the probable size and horror of the iconography that f ghastly shots of the massacres committed by filled the files when the camp was in operation.32 pp.otographs generally taken by the murder ldolf Hoss did not hesitate either, in spite of [ ] resent Otto Thierack, the minister of justice, wtographs taken at Auschwitz. 29 On the one 1 A single look at this remnant ofimages, or erratic corpus of images tography verged on a pornography of killing. in spite ofall, is enough to sense that Auschwitz can no longer be e Nazi administration was so anchored in its spoken of in those absolute terms-generally well intentioned, -with its pride, its bureaucratic narcissism apparently philosophical, but actually lazy33 - "unsayable" and ister and photograph everything that was "unimaginable:' The four photographs taken in August 1944 by en though the gassing of the Jews remained the members of the Sonderkommando address the unimaginable with which the Shoah is so often credited today-and this is the laboratories, no less, were in operation at second period of the unimaginable: tragically, the Shoah refutes astonishing in such a place. However, every- it. Auschwitz has been called unthinkable. But Hannah Arendt has 1~d from a capital as complex as Auschwitz, shown that it is precisely where thought falters that we ought to ital of the execution and obliteration ofhu persist in our thought or, rather, give it a new turn. So, if we say 'Uions. In the first laboratory, attached to the that Auschwitz exceeds any existing juridical thought, any notion ;e" (Erkennungsdienst), ten to twelve prisoners of fault or of justice, then political science and law must be re under the direction of SS officers Bernhardt thought entirely.34 And if we believe that Auschwitz exceeds all finann, suggesting an intense production of existing political thought, even anthropology, then we must re nsisted mainly ofdescriptive portraits of po think the very foundations of the human sciences as such. 35 :os ofexecutions, ofpeople being tortured, or I The historian's role is, of course, crucial to this task. Histori 're shot and developed by SS members them- ans cannot and must not "accept that the problem posed by the oratory, which was smaller, was the "office genocide ofthe Jews be neglected by relegating it to the unthink ntralbaulei'tung). Opened at the end of 1941 able. [The genocide] was thought, it was therefore thinkable."36 42, it was directed by the SS officer Dietrich This is also the direction taken by Primo Levi in his criticism of ether an entire photographic archive on the the speculations on the "incommunicability" of the concentration or must we forget the whole "medical" ico- camp testimony.37 The very existence and the possibility of such trous experiments by JosefMengele and his testimony- its enunciation in spite ofall-refute the grand idea, en, men, and children of Auschwitz.31 the closed notion, of an unsayable Auschwitz. It is to the very core the war, while the Nazis were burning the of speech that testimony invites us, compelling us to work there. prisoners who served them as slaves for that It is harsh work, since what it concerns is a description of death es of the general confusion to save - to di at work, with the inarticulate cries and the silences that are im s many images as they could. Today, around plied.38 To speak of Auschwitz in terms of the unsayable, is not to raphs of this documentation of Auschwitz bring oneself closer to Auschwitz. On the contrary, it is to relegate [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ]
Auschwitz to a region that Giorgio Agamben has very well defined In turn, both the Dachau-Projekt ofJoche in terms of mystical adoration, even of unknowing repetition of ible Monument against Racism in Sarrebriick ! the Nazi arcanum itsel(39 commentaries on the Shoah in general: "Tl We must do with the image what we already do more easily mains without images;' writes Gerard Wajc (Foucault has helped us here) with language. For in each testimo thing both "without visible trace and unim nial production, in each act of memory, language and image are ible and unthinkable object par excellence absolutely bound to one another, never ceasing to exchange their an Unrepresentable"; an "absolute disaster ti reciprocal lacunae. An image often appears where a word seems to be looked at"; a "destruction with no ruins"; fail; a word often appears where the imagination seems to fail. The and on the side of memory"; therefore "a thi "truth" of Auschwitz, ifthis expression has any meaning, is neither the extent that the "absence ofany image of more nor less unimaginable than it is unsayable.40 If the horror of impressed upon us. Do the two poor images the camps defies imagination, then each image snatched from such the gas chamber, at crematorium V of Auscl an experience becomes all the more necessary. If the terror of the not suffice to refute that negative aesthetic camps functions as an enterprise ofgeneralized obliteration, then could an image act of that kind be prescribe each apparition-however fragmentary, however difficult to look by any thought, however just, on the exerl at and to interpret-in which a single cog of this enterprise is visu limit at which the exercise of an art, what1 ally suggested to us becomes all the more necessary.41 insult to misfortune;' writes Maurice Blanc The discourse of the unimaginable has two different and rigor ously symmetrical modes. The one proceeds from an aestheticism [ ] that often fails to recognize history in its concrete singularities. The other proceeds from a historicism that often fails to recognize It is highly significant that Blanchot, a thin the image in its formal specificities. Examples abound. In particu negativity -relentless, without synthesisl lar, we will note that certain important works of art have caused of Auschwitz under the absolute authorit)l their commentators to give misleading generalizations on the or the invisible. On the contrary, in the ca "invisibility" of the genocide. Thus, the formal choices of Shoah, the "invisible [that] was forever rendered visi the film by Claude Lanzmann, have served as alibis for a whole think this paradox? Georges Bataille can discourse (as moral as it was aesthetic) on the unrepresentable, feared to interrogate the silence addressed the unfigurable, the invisible, the unimaginable, and so on.42 Yet his Rfjlexions sur la question juiv~ with respec these formal choices were specific and therefore relative: they lay Bataille, then-the thinker par excellence o down no rule. Avoiding the use of even a single "document from of Auschwitz in terms of the similar, the fell the period," the film Shoah precludes any peremptory judgment on the status of photographic archives in general.43 What it offers In being a man, there is generally an op instead is an impressive sequence-over ten hours-ofvisual and ment, which must be overcome. But tH sound images, offilmed faces, words, and places, all composed ac repugnance were never as heavy as they cording to formal choices and an extreme engagement with the Auschwitz. Like you and me, those respo question ofthe figurable. 44 had nostrils, a mouth, a voice, human [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] 27 nthat Giorgio Agamben has very well defined In turn, both the Dachau-Projekt ofJochen Gerz and his invis adoration, even of unknowing repetition of ible Monument against Racism in Sarrebriick gave rise to numerous elf.39 commentaries on the Shoah in general: "The Shoah was and re f the image what we already do more easily mains without images," writes Gerard Wajcman; it is even some Ius here) with language. For in each testimo thing both "without visible trace and unimaginable"; "the invis ~ach act of memory, language and image are ible and unthinkable object par excellence"; the "production of bne another, never ceasing to exchange their an Unrepresentable"; an "absolute disaster that absolutely cannot image often appears where a word seems to be looked at"; a "destruction with no ruins"; "beyond imagination ears where the imagination seems to fail. The and on the side of memory"; therefore "a thing unlooked at" -to ifthis expression has any meaning, is neither the extent that the "absence of any image of the gas chambers"45 is ~inable than it is unsayable.40 If the horror of impressed upon us. Do the two poor images framed by the door of ination, then each image snatched from such the gas chamber, at crematorium V of Auschwitz in August 1944, es all the more necessary. If the terror of the not suffice to refute that negative aesthetic? Furthermore, how enterprise ofgeneralized obliteration, then could an image act of that kind be prescribed or even interpreted ever fragmentary, however difficult to look by any thought, however just, on the exercise of art? "There is a 1in which a single cog ofthis enterprise is visu limit at which the exercise of an art, whatever it be, becomes an ecomes all the more necessary. 41 insult to misfortune;' writes Maurice Blanchot.46 e unimaginable has two different and rigor odes. The one proceeds from an aestheticism [ ] ognize history in its concrete singularities. om a historicism that often fails to recognize It is highly significant that Blanchot, a thinker par excellence of al specificities. Examples abound. In particu negativity -relentless, without synthesis-in fact did not speak certain important works of art have caused of Auschwitz under the absolute authority of the unimaginable to give misleading generalizations on the or the invisible. On the contrary, in the camps, he wrote, it was enocide. Thus, the formal choices of Shoah, the "invisible [that] was forever rendered visible."47 How should we anzmann, have served as alibis for a whole think this paradox? Georges Bataille can help us, he who never sit was aesthetic) on the unrepresentable, feared to interrogate the silence addressed sparingly by Sartre in 'nvisible, the unimaginable, and so on.42 Yet his Reflexions sur la question juive with respect to the gas chambers.48 r ere specific and therefore relative: they lay Bataille, then - the thinker par excellence of the formless-speaks mg the use of even a single "document from of Auschwitz in terms of the similar, the fellow human: lsboah precludes any peremptory judgment graphic archives in general.43 What it offers In being a man, there is generally an oppressive, sickly ele re sequence-over ten hours-ofvisual and ment, which must be overcome. But this weight and this fed faces, words, and places, all composed ac repugnance were never as heavy as they have become since bices and an extreme engagement with the Auschwitz. Like you and me, those responsible for Auschwitz I ble.44 had nostrils, a mouth, a voice, human reason, they could [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ]
unite, could have children. Like the Pyramids or the Acropo of Auschwitz survivors, we access the real o lis, Auschwitz is the fact, the sign of man. The image of man is cruelty, one in which, I contend, it was possi 49 inseparable, henceforth, from a gas chamber .. . was part of death: To engage here the image of man is to make of Auschwitz a fun One evening toward the end of Februar; damental problem henceforth for anthropology: Auschwitz is in night-shift. When our team arrived at ere separable from us, writes Bataille. There is no question, of course, hundred corpses were lying in the chani ofconfusing the victims with their executioners. But this evidence to be cremated. In the Kommandofabrer's must be considered with the anthropological fact-the fact about connected with the cremation room by a the human race, as Robert Antelme wrote in the same year50-that in full swing. Kommandofabrer Johann Gor it is a human being who inflicts torture, disfiguration, and death moted from Rottenfubrer to Unterscharfab1 upon his fellow human being [semblable]: "We are not only poten table in the Kommandofabrer's office was SJ tial victims of the executioners: the executioners are our fellows cies from all over the world. There were t [semblables]." 51 Bataille, the thinker par excellence of the impos meats, cheese, olives, sardines, and other , sible, well understood that we must speak of the camps as of the needless to say, from deportees. There was possible itself, the "possible of Auschwitz," as he specified.52 To say to wash them down and ample supplies ol this does not amount to making horror banal. On the contrary, it a dozen SS-Unterfohrer had come to the er engages with the concentration camp experience summarized by ebrate Gorges' promotion. They sat arour1 Hermann Langbein: and drinking. One ofthem had brought his playing folk and pop songs with the othe1 No single criterion of normal life applied to the extermination told each other blue jokes and as the hour a, camps. Auschwitz was the gas chambers, the selections, the grew increasingly genial.[ ...] From the c1 processions of human beings going to death like puppets, the came the noise of fans humming, Kapos sh, black wall and its trails of blood in the camp's roadway mark stoking the corpses inside the ovens with t ing the path of the vehicles which transported the executed to the crematorium, the anonymity of death which let no martyr shine, the booze-ups of the prisoners with their guards.[ ...] In Auschwitz, the spectacle of the prisoners dying from star vation was as habitual as the sight of the well-fed Kapos. [... ] Nothing was inconceivable in Auschwitz. Everything was pos sible, literally everything.53
If Bataille's thought is so close to this terrible human possibility, it is because he knew from the start how to formulate the indissoluble link between the image (the production of the similar) and the aggression (the destruction of the similar).54 In a story written in the midst ofthe war, Bataille had imagined a cruel world where, he said, "death itself was part of the feast." 55 Throughout the stories [ IMAGES IN SPITE OF ALL AGAINST ALL UNIMAGINABLE ] 29
1children. Like the Pyramids or the Acropo- of Auschwitz survivors, we access the real of an infinitely worse e fact, the sign of man. The image of man is cruelty, one in which, I contend, it was possible that the feast itself 49 forth, from a gas chamber . . . was part ofdeath: 1image of man is to make of Auschwitz a fun One evening toward the end of February [1944), I was on biceforth for anthropology: Auschwitz is in- 1 night-shift. When our team arrived at crematorium 5 a few · tes Bataille. There is no question, of course, hundred corpses were lying in the changing room, about ims with their executioners. But this evidence to be cremated. In the Kommandofiihrer's office, which was 'th the anthropological fact-the fact about connected with the cremation room by a door, a party was bert Antelme wrote in the same year50 -that in full swing. Kommandofiihrer Johann Gorges had been pro o inflicts torture, disfiguration, and death moted from Rottenfahrer to Unterscharftibrer. [... ] The long n being [semblable]: "We are not only poten table in the Kommandofiihrer's office was spread with delica :ecutioners: the executioners are our fellows cies from all over the world. There were tinned foods, cold e, the thinker par excellence of the impos meats, cheese, olives, sardines, and other dainties, all taken, d that we must speak of the camps as of the needless to say, from deportees. There was also Polish vodka sible of Auschwitz," as he specified.52 To say to wash them down and ample supplies of cigarettes. About to making horror banal. On the contrary, it a dozen SS-Unterftihrer had come to the crematorium to cel centration camp experience summarized by ebrate Gorges' promotion. They sat around the table eating and drinking. One ofthem had brought his accordion and was playing folk and pop songs with the others joining in. They ofnormal life applied to the extermination told each other blue jokes and as the hour advanced, the mood was the gas chambers, the selections, the grew increasingly genial.[ ... ] From the cremation chamber an beings going to death like puppets, the came the noise of fans humming, Kapos shouting and stokers ails of blood in the camp's roadway mark- stoking the corpses inside the ovens with their iron forks.56 vehicles which transported the executed to e anonymity ofdeath which let no martyr s of the prisoners with their guards. [. ..] pectacle of the prisoners dying from star al as the sight of the well-fed Kapos. [. ..] eivable in Auschwitz. Everything was pos hing.53 so close to this terrible human possibility, it is the start how to formulate the indissoluble ge (the production of the similar) and the ction of the similar).54 In a story written in ataille had imagined a cruel world where, he part of the feast."55 Throughout the stories