INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE AUDIO-VISUAL TESTIMONY CORRESPONDANTS - CORRESPONDENTS Iris BERLATZKY,Historian in Charge of the Holocaust Oral History Training Workshop, Hebrew University, Jerusalem - Israel ; Sidney BOLKOSKY,Professor of History, University of Michigan-Dearborn - College of Arts, Sciences and Letters, Dearborn - U.S.A. ; Paula J. DRAPPER, P. H.D. (History), Independent Scholar,Toronto - Canada ; Hubert GALLE, Maître de Conférences, Université Libre de Bruxelles - Belgique ; Carla GIACOMOZZI, Stadtarchivarin der Stadtgemeinde Bozen - Italien ; Henry GREENSPAN, Consulting Psychologist and Lecturer in Social Science, Residential College - University of Michigan,Ann Arbor - U.S.A. ; Judith HASSAN,Director of Services for Holocaust survivors, refugees and their family based at Shalvata - Therapy Centre of jewish Care, Founder of the Holocaust Survival Centre, London - UK ; Giuseppe PALEARI, Hauptbibliothekar der Stadtbibliothek der Gemeinde Nova Milanese - Italien ; Roger SIMON, Professor, Department of Curriculum Teaching and Learning - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education - University of Toronto - Canada ; Stephen SMITH, Director,Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial Centre, Nottinghamshire - UK ; Alexander VON PLATO,Geschäftführender Direktor des Institut für Geschichte und Biographie der FernUniversität Hagen - Deutschland ; Jaques WALTER,Maître de conférences, Centre de Recherche sur les Médias - Université de Metz - France. SECRÉTARIAT DE RÉDACTION - EDITORIAL OFFICE Josette ZARKA (France) ; Yannis THANASSEKOS (Belgique) ; Anne VAN LANDSCHOOT (Belgique) ; Carine BRACKE (Secrétariat Fondation Auschwitz - Belgique). VENTES ET ABONNEMENTS - SUBSCRIPTIONS AND SINGLE COPIES Editions du Centre d’Etudes et de Documentation Fondation Auschwitz, 65 rue des Tanneurs,1000 Bruxelles - Belgique Tél. : (02) 512 79 98 Fax : (02) 512 58 84 Abonnement annuel (2 numéros) - Annual rates (2 issues) : Frais de port inclus / including postage Europe : 1230 FB (200 FF ; £20 ; DM 60) - Autres/Others : 1340FB (US $34) Ce numéro a été coordonné et réalisé par Madame Anne Van Landschoot, Collaboratrice scientifique à la Fondation Auschwitz, Mesdames Carine Bracke et Nadine Praet, Assistantes techniques et administratives - This number have been realized and coordinated by Mrs. Anne Van Landschoot, Scientific Assistant at the Auschwitz Foundation, Mrs. Carine Brake and Mrs. Nadine Praet,Technical and Administrative Assistants. Les articles publiés dans le Cahier International sur le témoignage audiovisuel n’engagent que la responsabilité des auteurs - The articles published in the International Journal on audio-visual Testimony are under the responsibility of the authors. ISNN = 0772-652X © Centre d’Etudes et de Documentation - Fondation Auschwitz Bruxelles 1998 — 1 — INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE AUDIO-VISUAL TESTIMONY Sommaire - Contents Bref message du Président de la Fondation Auschwitz, BARON PAUL HALTER Brief Message from the President of the Auschwitz Foundation . 5 ALEXANDER VON PLATO «Victims’ Competitions» ? . 7 SYDNEY BOLKOSKY The Survivor Search for «Meaning» . 15 JOSETTE ZARKA Les adolescents dans les camps d’extermination . 23 EVA LEZZI Verfolgte Kinder : Erlebnisweisen und Erzählstrukturen . 35 Résumé . 62 HENRY GREENSPAN The Tellable and the Hearable : Survivor Guilt in Narrative Context . 65 COMMENTAIRES - COMMENTARY : • Autour de la «Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation» . 73 GEOFFREY HARTMAN YANNIS THANASSEKOS • About the «Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation» . 82 • Mais où est donc passé le réalisateur… ? . 89 HUBERT GALLE STEPHEN SMITH Beyond Testimony : Witness, Visual History and Education . 93 NATHAN BEYRAK Testimonies of Non-Jewish Witnesses in Poland . 99 LORETTA WALZ Zwangsarbeit für Siemens in Ravensbrück . 105 Résumé . 116 — 3 — CAHIER INTERNATIONAL SUR LE TÉMOIGNAGE AUDIOVISUEL PAULA J. DRAPER The Liberated Remember Reflections of Canadian Holocaust Survivors . 121 Appel du Secrétariat de Rédaction Invitation from the Editorial Secretariat . 131 Liste des thèmes proposés pour exploration par les membres du Comité de Rédaction du Cahier . 133 List of the Research Themes proposed by the Members of the Editorial Board for Treatment in the International Journal . 136 — 4 — INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE AUDIO-VISUAL TESTIMONY Bref message du Président Brief Message de la Fondation Auschwitz, from the President of the Baron Paul Halter Auschwitz Foundation, Baron Paul Halter* Nous voilà devant la publication du deuxiè- The second issue of our International me numéro de notre Cahier International Journal on Audiovisual Testimony is ready consacré à l’étude des témoignages audiovi- for publication. suels. We are extremely pleased with the reactions Les éditions de notre Centre ne peuvent que to our first issue, which appeared in June se réjouir de l’important écho qu’a reçu la 1998. The growing interest in the study of parution du premier numéro en juin 1998. audiovisual testimony from the victims of Cet intérêt grandissant pour l’étude des témoi- Nazi crimes and genocides amply justifies gnages audiovisuels des victimes des crimes et our Foundation’s financial, physical and génocides nazis justifie pleinement les efforts intellectual efforts to establish a forum where financiers, matériels et intellectuels que consent researchers in many countries can freely notre Fondation pour donner la possibilité discuss their problems and draw up research aux chercheurs de divers pays d’établir, en projects. The scientific and didactic future of toute autonomie, un lieu de discussion et the history and remembrance of Nazi crimes d’élaboration de leurs problématiques et pro- and genocides will to a large extent depend jets de recherches. De la qualité de cette dis- on the quality of these discussions and pro- cussion et de cette élaboration dépendra jects. largement l’avenir de l’histoire et de la mémoi- re des crimes et génocides nazis, tant sur le I urge all the members of the International plan scientifique qu’éducatif. Editorial Committee to make every effort to increase the circulation of the Journal in Je voudrais insister auprès de toutes les their respective countries (among institu- équipes qui participent au Comité interna- tions, associations etc.). The survival of the tional de Rédaction pour qu’elles multi- Journal will soon depend on the number plient leurs efforts afin d’assurer une plus of subscribers and financial contributions grande diffusion du Cahier dans leur pays which we receive, since the funds of the respectif (auprès des institutions, associa- Auschwitz Foundation’s Publications will tions, etc.). En effet, du nombre des abonnés not be sufficient to ensure its publication et des soutiens que nous recevrons dépendra in the future. I also beg our friends and con- bientôt la survie même du Cahier, dans la tacts to help us to continue publishing the mesure où les Editions de la Fondation Journal, whose interest and quality have Auschwitz ne pourront pas à l’avenir assu- won unanimous approval from its readers. rer la publication sur leurs fonds propres. Aussi je demande instamment à nos amis et connaissances de nous aider dans la poursuite de cette publication dont l’intérêt et la qua- lité ont été unanimement appréciés par ses lecteurs. * English Translation by Mrs. Sara Lewis, whom we would like to thank very much. — 5 — INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE AUDIO-VISUAL TESTIMONY ALEXANDER VON PLATO Geschäftführender Direktor Institut für Geschichte und Biographie, FernUniversität Hagen - Deutschland «Victims’ Competitions» ? * This essay is dealing with different trau- East Asian continent, most of them in the mas, «victims’ hierarchies and competi- Soviet Union (about 13 million), in tions», with different times of silence and Germany (3,76 million), Japan (1,2 million), talking under different political systems in Great Britain (440.000), Yugoslavia (410.000) East and West Germany 1. and in France, Italy, Poland (each more than At the end of the World War II the cata- 300.000). strophic politics of Hitler-Germany was The estimated number of civilians who were defeated with hardly imaginable conse- killed by mass annihilation, fights, killings, quences. All over the world - so the usual partisan war etc. is about 25 to 30 million, estimations - about 55 million people were from these in Europe nearly 15 million, killed, especially in the eastern European without the ca. 9 million who were killed in countries like Poland and the Soviet Union. Nazi concentration camps, jails and so on. More than 21 million soldiers were killed or As we all know : from these 9 million about missed (not counting those on the South 6 million were European Jews. * I would like to thank Alice v. Plato for many remarks and for correcting my English. I have to thank Elisabeth Domansky as well : The title came from discussions with her. 1 This essay is based on a lecture I held at the 10th Oral History Conference in 1998 in Rio de Janeiro. — 7 — CAHIER INTERNATIONAL SUR LE TÉMOIGNAGE AUDIOVISUEL From the beginning the annihilation of Jews, people in their environment who did not Gypsies and others not only by the SS but want to know anything about their terrible by the German «Wehrmacht», too, was one time in the concentration camps. element of the German warfare and the On the other side, the allied victors impris- conquest of the East. oned a number of persons in 1945-46, main- Besides all this in Germany itself there were ly National Socialists of a lower and middle about 3,6 million dead civilians, among