Seven Seconds
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Seven Seconds Remediation of the 1944 Westerbork film and West European memory of the Holocaust 1 2 Preface I grew up in a Dutch – South African family. My grandparents were children during World War II and my grandfathers developed a real interest in the war later in life, talking to me from an early age about their personal experiences and sharing their wealth of knowledge. My father developed this interest further and my mother even studied history. So from a young age I have been exposed to history and the Second World War from varying geographical perspectives and generations. Fortunately, I also found it a very interesting subject. I developed a particular interest in the Holocaust. Stories about the Second World War always grabbed my attention. I still remember visiting the Anne Frank House for the first time, and being mesmerized by her story. I read books about this subject but visual images have always had an arresting effect on me. During my bachelor history at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, I specialized in world history but the interest for the Holocaust and the genocidal aspect of it remained. Combining this with my interest in Africa, my bachelor thesis was about the first genocide committed by the Germans - on the Herero and Nama population of South-West Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. When the subject of this master thesis was presented as one of the possible subjects last year, it immediately caught my eye – literally. As the image of a girl with a white headscarf was shown, I recognized the image, but had no idea where it came from. It made me curious and I knew this was the subject for my next thesis. Although the Holocaust is a very grave and depressing subject and my research on the remediation of the Westerbork film images was sometimes challenging precisely because it required watching these images over and over again, I believe it is extremely important that research about the Holocaust continues to be done. Furthermore, most people take visual images at face value, but they can be deceptive. For historians it is essential to study all sources critically and in-depth, especially those that appear simple to interpret – as this thesis will show. I would like to thank Prof. Dr. C. R. Ribbens, Dr. R. J. Adriaansen and my mother Annelieke Zonne for their help and guidance. I dedicate this thesis to my grandfathers: Ronald Aitken (1932 – 2018) and Bram Zonne (1937). 3 Seven Seconds Remediation of the 1944 Westerbork film and West European memory of the Holocaust Rose Aitken 400290 aitkenrose@gmail.com MA Thesis Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam 25-07-2018 Advisor: Prof. Dr. C. R. Ribbens Co-reader: Dr. S. M. Hogervorst 4 Table of contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 7 1.1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.1.1. CAMP WESTERBORK ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.1.2. THE WESTERBORK FILM ................................................................................................................. 10 1.1.3. RESEARCH QUESTION .................................................................................................................... 11 1.2. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS ......................................................................................................... 13 1.2.1. MEMORY & COLLECTIVE MEMORY ................................................................................................... 13 1.2.2. MEDIATION & REMEDIATION .......................................................................................................... 15 1.3. INNOVATIVE ASPECTS ............................................................................................................. 15 1.4. SOURCES ............................................................................................................................. 16 1.5. METHODS ........................................................................................................................... 17 1.6. HISTORIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................. 17 1.7. STRUCTURE.......................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: THE EVOLUTION OF HOLOCAUST MEMORY IN WESTERN EUROPE ............................. 26 2.1. PHASES IN HOLOCAUST MEMORY ................................................................................................. 26 2.1.1. AFTER THE WAR ............................................................................................................................... 26 2.1.2. THE 1960S ..................................................................................................................................... 28 2.1.3. A NEW GENERATION ......................................................................................................................... 29 2.1.4. THE HOLOCAUST ‘DRAMATIZED’ ......................................................................................................... 30 2.1.5. THE END OF THE COLD WAR .............................................................................................................. 31 2.1.6. THE HOLOCAUST GOES GLOBAL .......................................................................................................... 33 2.1.7. NEW CONFLICTS, NEW TECHNOLOGY ................................................................................................... 34 2.1.8. THE TREND CONTINUES ..................................................................................................................... 36 2.2. THE ROLE OF VISUAL MATERIAL IN HOLOCAUST MEMORY ................................................................... 37 2.3. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 3: REMEDIATION OF THE WESTERBORK IMAGES – FOUR CASE STUDIES ........................ 43 3.1. CASE STUDY 1: NUIT ET BROUILLARD (1955) ............................................................................... 43 3.1.1. DISCUSSION OF NUIT ET BROUILLARD ............................................................................................... 44 3.1.2. WESTERBORK FILM IMAGES IN NUIT ET BROUILLARD ........................................................................... 48 3.1.3. CONCLUSION NUIT ET BROUILLARD .................................................................................................. 50 1.2. CASE STUDY 2: GEZICHT VAN HET VERLEDEN (1994)...................................................................... 51 1.2.1. DISCUSSION OF GEZICHT VAN HET VERLEDEN ..................................................................................... 52 1.2.2. WESTERBORK FILM IMAGES IN GEZICHT VAN HET VERLEDEN ................................................................ 55 1.2.3. CONCLUSION GEZICHT VAN HET VERLEDEN........................................................................................ 56 1.3. CASE STUDY 3: ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED (1995) ..................................................................... 56 1.3.1. DISCUSSION OF ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED ..................................................................................... 57 1.3.2. WESTERBORK FILM IMAGES IN ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED ................................................................. 60 1.3.3. CONCLUSION ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED ........................................................................................ 64 1.4. CASE STUDY 4: RESPITE (2007) ................................................................................................ 64 1.4.1. DISCUSSION OF RESPITE ................................................................................................................. 65 1.4.2. WESTERBORK FILM IMAGES IN RESPITE ............................................................................................. 69 1.4.3. CONCLUSION RESPITE .................................................................................................................... 72 5 1.5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 73 CHAPTER 4: REMEDIATION OF WESTERBORK FILM IMAGES IN RELATION TO COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF THE HOLOCAUST IN WESTERN EUROPE .................................................................................. 74 4.1. NUIT ET BROUILLARD ................................................................................................................ 74 4.2. GEZICHT VAN HET VERLEDEN & ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED ............................................................... 77 4.3. RESPITE ................................................................................................................................. 80 4.4. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 84 5.1. THE CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................