scholarly journals To Survive Ravensbrück: Considerations on Museum Pedagogy and the Passing on of Holocaust Remembrance

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 338-353
Author(s):  
Katrine Tinning
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
Ethical Responsibility ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Holocaust Studies ◽  
Museum Pedagogy ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Visual Pedagogy

How can museums pass on the remembrances of the survivors of Holocaust in ways that engage visitors? This article looks at the ways museums remember the Holocaust by focusing on an exhibition entitled To Survive - Voices from Ravensbrück at the museum of cultural history, Kulturen, in Lund, Sweden. The exhibition centres on a unique collection of small objects secretly and illegally created by women in the Ravensbrück concentration camp as acts of resistance against the inhuman conditions in the camp. Exhibits on the Holocaust represent a particular tradition of museum pedagogy, associated with the imperative of ‘never again’, often read as an attempt to evoke empathy and responsibility for other human beings. In line with this tradition, the educational aim of To Survive is to encourage the viewers, to be moved to a greater sense of responsibility. The article provides a detailed description of the exhibit, discusses the choice of the museum to tone down the dark aspects of the story, and looks into how the exhibition realizes various appeals to the visitor, but also how it makes some voices mute. As such this article contributes to the ongoing museological discussions of the complexities of putting so-called difficult knowledge on display.Key Words: Museum Pedagogy, Visual Pedagogy, Memory Studies, Holocaust Studies, Difficult Knowledge, Ethical responsibility, Visitor involvement.

Transcending Dystopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Frühauf
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
German Studies ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
Holocaust Studies ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Musical Practices

Transcending Dystopia features pioneering research on the role music played in its various connections to and contexts of Jewish communal life and cultural activity in Germany from 1945 to 1989. As the first history of the Jewish communities’ musical practices during the postwar and Cold War eras, it tells the story of how the traumatic experience of the Holocaust led to transitions and transformations, and the significance of music in these processes. As such, it relies on music to draw together three areas of inquiry: the Jewish community, the postwar Germanys and their politics after the Holocaust (occupied Germany, the Federal Republic, the Democratic Republic, and divided Berlin), and the concept of cultural mobility. Indeed, the musical practices of the Jewish communities in the postwar Germanys cannot be divorced from politics, as can be observed in their relations to Israel and United States. On the grounds of these conceptual concerns, selective communities serve as case studies to provide a kaleidoscopic panorama of musical practices in worship and in social life. Within these pillars, the chapters in this volume cover a wide spectrum of topics, from music during commemorations, on the radio and in Jewish newspapers, to synagogue concerts and community events; from the absence and presence of cantor and organ to the resurgence of choral music. What binds these topics tightly together is the specific theoretical inquiry of mobility. Interdisciplinary in scope and method, the book builds on recent scholarship in Cold War studies, cultural history, German studies, Holocaust studies, and Jewish studies.

A Cultural History of Memory in the Long Twentieth Century

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Methodological Nationalism ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
History Of

A Cultural History of Memory in the Twentieth Century cannot be written without taking into account the massive impact of the nation state on collective memory formation. This volume explores the power of the nation as a framework for the operation of collective memory but, in line with recent memory theory, the contributions also warn against the pitfalls of ‘methodological nationalism’ which risks subsuming society under the rubric of the nation-state. Likewise, it would be hard to imagine a cultural history of twentieth century memory which did not accord the Holocaust a central place in that history. As such, several chapters in this volume address this genocide. One key concern which emerges in this book is the question of periodization: how should we conceive of patterns in memory over the course of the twentieth century? Many developments in memory across the globe are connected by the fact that political, social and cultural forces in the twentieth century have been and remain global in reach. As such, this volume underlines the importance of progressing the agenda of ‘transnational memory’ studies. In doing so, A Cultural History of Memory in the Twentieth Century emphasizes the need to move beyond a focus on memory of war and genocide and seeks to offer a rich and diverse study of memory in the modern world.

Obecny stan badań nad Zagładą na Ukrainie

2014 ◽  
pp. 889-915
Author(s):  
Anna Abakunkova
Keyword(s):  
Future Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Holocaust Studies ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The Future

The article examines the state of the Holocaust historiography in Ukraine for the period of 2010 – beginning of 2014. The review analyzes activities of major research and educational organizations in Ukraine which have significant part of projects devoted to the Holocaust; main publications and discussions on the Holocaust in Ukraine, including publications of Ukrainian authors in academic European and American journals. The article illustrates contemporary tendencies and conditions of the Holocaust Studies in Ukraine, defines major problems and shows perspectives of the future development of the Holocaust historiography in Ukraine.

The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Philosophical Anthropology ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Cultures

This work represents a combination of different genres: cultural history, philosophical anthropology, and textbook. It follows a handful of different but interrelated themes through more than a dozen texts that were written over a period of several millennia. By means of an analysis of these texts, this work presents a theory about the development of Western Civilization from antiquity to the Middle Ages. The main line of argument traces the various self-conceptions of the different cultures as they developed historically. These self-conceptions reflect different views of what it is to be human. The thesis is that in these we can discern the gradual emergence of what we today call inwardness, subjectivity and individual freedom. As human civilization took its first tenuous steps, it had a very limited conception of the individual. Instead, the dominant principle was that of the wider group: the family, clan or people. Only in the course of history did the idea of what we know as individuality begin to emerge. It took millennia for this idea to be fully recognized and developed. The conception of human beings as having a sphere of inwardness and subjectivity subsequently had a sweeping impact on all aspects of culture, such as philosophy, religion, law, and art. Indeed, this conception largely constitutes what is today referred to as modernity. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that this modern conception of human subjectivity was not simply something given but rather the result of a long process of historical and cultural development.

The Legacy of Rita Levi-Montalcini: From Nerve Growth Factor to Neuroinflammation

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
Domenico Chirchiglia ◽  
Pasquale Chirchiglia ◽  
Dorotea Pugliese ◽  
Rosa Marotta
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Growth Factor ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Nerve Roots ◽  
Nerve Growth ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Endogenous Substances

Rita Levi-Montalcini was an extraordinary personality and with her profession she made a tremendous contribution to humanity. Doctor, Nobel laureate for medicine, neuroscientist, she contributed, thanks to her research, to improve the knowledge of the nervous system. She discovered the nerve growth factor, which is applied in various fields of neurology, concerning neurodegenerative diseases. She also studied, in relatively newer years, the mechanisms of neuroinflammation. This last is a research that has been developing in recent years and is based on the predominantly anti-inflammatory properties of endogenous substances that able to act not only on diseases of the nerves, neuropathies, on the nerve roots, and radiculopathies but also on migraine and other non-neurological diseases. Her long life was full of positive and negative events. Born in a Jewish family, she lived her life as a young woman through war, Nazi deportations, and the Holocaust. Despite the difficulties, she found time to do research in the medical field, organizing research laboratories with other scholars. She had a difficult life, interspread with pain, destruction, extermination of human beings but also rewarded by scientific discoveries. A “small” woman but a great neuroscientist.

scholarly journals POLITIK PEMUSNAHAN DAN PEMUSNAHAN POLITIK : Telaah Kritis Atas Konsep Hannah Arendt Tentang Totalitarisme

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Mathias Daven
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Hannah Arendt ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
Total Domination ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Totalitarian Regime

If we wish to understand a totalitarian system as a whole, we need first to understand the central role of the concentration camp as a laboratorium to experiment in total domination. Arendt’s analysis of totalitarianism in the twentieth century shows how a totalitarian regime cannot survive without terror; and terror will not be effective without concentration camps. Experiments in concentration camps had as their purpose, apart from wiping out any freedom or spontaneity, the abolishing of space between human beings, abolishing space for politics. Thus, totalitarianism did not mirror only the politics of extinction, but also the extinction of politics. As a way forward, Arendt analyses political theory that forces the reader to understand power no longer under the rubric of domination or violence – although this avenue is open – but rather under the rubric of freedom. Arendt is convinced that the life of a destroyed nation can be restored by mutual forgiveness and mutual promises, two abilities rooted in action. Political action, as with other acts, is identical with the ability to commence something new. Keywords: Totalitarisme, antisemitisme, imperialisme, dominasi, teror, kebebasan, kedaulatan, kamp konsentrasi, politik, ideologi, tindakan

scholarly journals Is Experiencing History Possible? Between “Dark Tourism” and “the Holocaust Industry:” The Case of Terezín

2019 ◽  
pp. 123-134
Author(s):  
Urszula Kowalska-Nadolna
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
Dark Tourism ◽  
Utopian Vision ◽  
Actual Reality ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Terezin Concentration Camp ◽  
Educational Sources ◽  
Past Experiences

The article focuses on the representation of Terezín (Theresienstadt) concentration camp in contemporary Czech literary, historical, and educational sources. We should treat the ways of presenting Terezín in Czech public space as a beginning of the discussion about the popular, mass need for “adapting” memory about past experiences to the abilities of a new recipient. The basis for the following considerations is the 2009 novel by Jáchym Topol, The Devil’s Workshop (original title: Chladnou zemí), that presents the process of the revitalization of Terezín concentration camp, which seems to be another stage of a theatricalization or reconstruction of memory. The fundamental question is: How far is it from the Topol’s utopian vision to the actual reality, full of commercialized or institutionalized memory?

scholarly journals Human Beings after Catastrophe: Poetical Portraits by Primo Levi and Tamiki Hara

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
Veronica De Pieri
Keyword(s):  
Concentration Camp ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Traumatic Memory ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human History ◽  
Primo Levi ◽  
Red Army ◽  
Bear Witness ◽  
Submission Date

January 27, 1945: the Red Army set Auschwitz concentration camp free, making this date the liberation day for thousands of inmates, victims of the Nazi’s idea of a master race. August 15, 1945: Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan on Japanese radio after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. XX century witnessed two of the most abominable atrocities of human history whose repercussions still affect not only German and Japanese societies, involved at first place, but also each individual’s consciousness too. Over the past decades different studies have been investigating these indelible marks on history on many levels: historical, political, sociological, psychological and even artistic approaches were called into question in the search for the truth about Shoah and atomic bombing catastrophes. This study offers a different perspective on the topic by comparing the poetical responses of two representatives of the so-called Shoah Literature and Atomic Bombing Literature: Primo Levi and Tamiki Hara. Both authors, although the space-related distance and the different nature of the traumatic experiences they witnessed, gave birth to similar poetical responses under the title of Se questo è un uomo (“If this is a man”) and Kore ga ningen na no desu (“This is a human being”).This research sets itself the ambitious goal to demonstrate how, regardless of territorial, cultural and stylistic boundaries, a similar human response toward catastrophe can be detached in the literary productions of Levi and Hara: a comparison on stylistic, figurative and expressive level reveals the analogous literary solutions adopted by the authors to depict human’s frailty in front of trauma. Both authors answer the literary imperative of writing: their commitment unveils the aim to bear witness and to convey memory to the future generations. Words, enriched by authors of allusive and critical meanings, represent an effective and necessary means to keep alive and to preserve the traumatic memory. The literature of the catastrophe, then, becomes a language that unites, rather than divides, different societies. It serves as an universal mouthpiece for victims’ experiences to prevent Auschwitz, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to happen again. Submission date: September 2017.

Epilogue

2019 ◽  
pp. 261-266
Author(s):  
Philipp Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Life ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
German Government ◽  
German Jews ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Camp System ◽  
German Jewish

THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT might have intended to eliminate Jewish life in Germany, and it succeeded in depriving of their German lives the individuals who illustrated the (im)possibilities of Jews being engaged on and with the German Right in this book. Yet it did not succeed in ending their lives altogether. The majority of the German Jews appearing on these pages managed to survive the Holocaust, through emigration, hiding, or perseverance in the concentration camp system. After the Holocaust they gave testimony, archived their records, and collected those of others. Without their efforts this book on German Jewish conservatives would not exist; and though it ends with their emigration—all but one never returned to Germany for any lengthy period of time—their individual stories were not over. By briefly recounting their lives after 1938, I want to conclude by paying them my respects....

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