Their Childhood and the Holocaust

The book focuses on the traumatic dimension of the Holocaust and how it is expressed (or left unexpressed) in children's diaries. Children have a specific perception of the Holocaust: it did not destroy their earlier world view, becoming instead the field of first experiences.

Children have a specific perception of the Holocaust: it did not destroy their earlier world view, but became the field of first experiences. This book focuses on the traumatic dimension of the Holocaust and how it is expressed (or left unexpressed) in children's diaries. «Here and Now» under the German Occupation presents an analysis of diaries and school elaborations written in Polish by Jewish children during German Occupation. A Literary Return to Childhood during the Holocaust is dedicated to Polish retrospective literature, in which authors return to the experience of the Holocaust during their childhood years.

Autorentext

Justyna Kowalska-Leder is an assistant professor in the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. Her main field of interests are Polish memory of the Holocaust, Polish-Jewish relations during World War II and personal documents written by Jews during the German Occupation. She has also won the FNP Award of Excellence for a monograph, Foundation for Polish Science (2009) and the Majer Bäaban Medal of Distinction for the best doctoral dissertation, organised by the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw (2010).

Inhalt

Contents: Horror and the Holocaust - experience beyond words The Paradox - only a child s words give voice to the inexpressible Children write the journey of death - unfolding before their very eyes The Shoah - looming, unavoidable, threatening, without alternative Children - a tabula rasa The German Occupation - a record of unending nightmare Man is naked - stripped of ethics, rules, relations Events are beyond the known, beyond judgement Beyond the moral divide The world needs to be restrained in the word.