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Holocaust Consciousness in New Zealand 1980-2010: a Study

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Holocaust Consciousness in New Zealand 1980-2010: a Study View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington Holocaust Consciousness in New Zealand 1980-2010: A Study Jessica Caldwell A thesis Submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Victoria University Wellington 2011 Abstract This thesis chronicles and examines the major New Zealand specific Holocaust-related issues of the last three decades, in the time period 1980 to 2010. The Holocaust has had a long reaching legacy worldwide since the end of the Second World War. There have been major news items and issues that have brought the Holocaust to the forefront of people‟s consciousness throughout the decades, the most prominent example being the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961. It was major news such as that trial, as well as Hollywood productions such as the TV miniseries Holocaust in the late 1970s, that brought about widespread consciousness of the Holocaust worldwide, in countries such as the United States and Australia. In New Zealand, but major Holocaust-related issues connected specifically to New Zealand did not begin to emerge until the 1980s. This thesis investigates, in three chapters, differing issues over the aforementioned time period that have had an impact on consciousness of the Holocaust in New Zealand. The issues investigated are respectively: the war criminals investigation of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the colonial „holocaust‟ argument of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Holocaust denial controversies in New Zealand academia, and the growth and evolution of Holocaust commemoration and education. Although some issues, such as commemoration and education, began earlier, it was not until the 1980s that these issues developed in earnest and a greater number of people began to take notice of the connection of these issues, and in turn New Zealand, to the Holocaust. The main arguments made in this thesis are that New Zealand‟s consciousness of the Holocaust developed when it did and at the rate it did because of particular aspects of the Jewish community and New Zealand society as a whole, including the geographical isolation of ii the country, the size and assimilation of the Jewish and survivor communities here, and the overall attitudes and on occasion apathy and ignorance towards the Holocaust. All of these aspects have influenced, to varying degrees, consciousness of the Holocaust within New Zealand throughout the time period of 1980 to 2010. iii Acknowledgements The journey I have been on and experience I have had with this thesis has been extremely valuable, from the initial vague idea I had to come back to New Zealand from London to write a Masters thesis, to the process of deciding upon a topic and researching and writing. First and foremost my thanks go to my supervisor, Simone Gigliotti, for being so helpful and generous with her feedback, ideas, suggestions and time from the very beginning up to the end. I would also like to thank all of those who have helped me in the course of my research, especially those I interviewed: Claire Bruell, Ruth Filler, Walter Hirsh, Deborah Knowles, Lilla Wald, Dov Bing, Carol Calkoen, Judith Clearwater, Anthony Hubbard, Stephen Levine, Hanka Pressburg, Steven Sedley, Inge Woolf, and David Zwartz. There have also been a number of people who have been generous with their time in aiding me in my research and for that I am grateful to Mark Sheehan, James Urry, Mike Regan, Konrad Kwiet, Mark Clements, and Claire Massey. My family have been nothing but supportive during the course of my research and writing. Many thanks and I love you Mum, Dad, and Becca, and all other family members who have supported me. My friends have also been a great source of support and relief when I needed it: thank you Zane, Sarah, Kim, Heather, Laura, and Roxy. iv Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Contents v Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Australian Influence: War Criminals Controversies and Colonial Arguments 12 Chapter Two: Holocaust Denial and Anti-Semitism in New Zealand 44 Chapter Three: Holocaust Commemoration, Education, and Jewish Identity in New Zealand 78 Conclusion 110 Bibliography 117 v Introduction In 1993, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) opened in Washington DC. It was the culmination of years of organisation and preparations that had begun nearly two decades earlier. The museum now welcomes visitors from all over the world and has played an immeasurable role in Holocaust consciousness in the United States, and to a certain extent worldwide, through its exhibitions, events such as workshops and conferences, and hosting schools and other large visitor groups. New Zealand has had to rely on a variety of different methods to sustain Holocaust consciousness and the growth of it here, as private and government funding for such endeavours is not as accessible here as other countries. Consciousness can be defined as a person‟s awareness or perception of something.1 Awareness or perception of an event of such magnitude and emotional impact as the Holocaust stems from a number of different factors, such as the willingness of survivors to talk about their experiences, the prominence of memorial days such as Yom HaShoah and International Holocaust Memorial Day within both the Jewish and wider communities, places of remembrance such as memorial plaques, Holocaust-related news items and issues, and movies, television series and documentaries. The opportunity to propagate Holocaust consciousness clearly comes in many shapes and forms and has varying results throughout the world. The main objective of this thesis is to shed light on an area of scholarship that has been neglected in New Zealand: the role of Holocaust consciousness in wider society, and examinations as to why it did not seem to become fully part of wider consciousness until the 1980s onwards. When comparing international Holocaust related events from 1945 up 1 R. E. Allen ed. Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th edition, Oxford, 1990, p.243 1 to the present day with events specific to New Zealand, it is clear that while consciousness has ebbed and flowed to an extent over the decades since the Second World War, New Zealand‟s turning point in consciousness did not occur until the mid 1980s. This could be pinpointed to the 1985 Wellington-based Holocaust commemoration, which was attended by many people including Prime Minister David Lange. There were of course defining moments before this commemoration, such as the trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961-62. However, this was an external event, meaning it was based outside New Zealand. And while external events certainly played important roles in bringing consciousness of the Holocaust to the wider New Zealand community, it is the New Zealand specific, internal events that play the most important role in the way in which Holocaust consciousness fully emerged. I will argue foremost that New Zealand, both through its Jewish and non-Jewish communities, displays particular characteristics in the way certain important Holocaust-related events have been approached and handled, ways which distinguish it from other countries but also exhibit close links, especially with countries such as Australia. I will also argue that the Jewish community of New Zealand is singular to this country in a number of ways historically and through its approach to the Holocaust and Holocaust related issues. The main issues that will be examined relate to an extent to the state and development of Holocaust consciousness in New Zealand within the past three decades, in the time period from 1980 to 2010. This time period was chosen specifically because, in my examination of Holocaust related events and news items worldwide and specifically in this country, there seemed to be a substantial growth in events and news items from the early to mid 1980s onwards. Compared with the international sphere, especially the United States, Britain, and Australia, New Zealand has been apparently late coming with its own type of Holocaust awareness. There have of course been major international news events 2 that reached New Zealand in some shape or form. Hollywood has also had a large impact, especially since the mid 1970s with for example the miniseries Holocaust in 1977, and perhaps most famously Schindler’s List is 1993. However, these productions not only affected New Zealand audiences but countless millions worldwide, and are therefore while important not a cause for great examination here. What is truly of interest are the events specifically tied to New Zealand. These include memorial events, news controversies, commemorations and news items that tied New Zealand to the Holocaust in a way that cannot be seen in the immediate decades after the Second World War and into the 1970s. I examine a number of important events related to the Holocaust. The first chapter, The Australian Influence: War Criminals Controversies and Colonial Arguments, explores whether the war criminals controversy of the mid 1980s to early 1990s had any kind of effect on the state of Holocaust consciousness in New Zealand, and why the media and public reacted in the manner they did to the issue. The argument surrounding the use of the term „holocaust‟ when referring to the suffering of Maori during the colonial period will also be examined. Whether this had any impact on Holocaust awareness and whether the attitudes of many in this debate are related in any way to New Zealand‟s history with the United Nations Genocide Convention and its attitude towards its own colonial past. I argue that because of New Zealand‟s history, the country‟s late discovery and settlement, the way both issues were approached are particular and somewhat different to how both issues have been addressed in Australia, despite the cultural similarities between the two countries.
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