PDF Wade Hampton III by Robert Kilgo Ackerman in History

Description

Despite Adorno's famous dictum; the memory of the Shoah features prominently in the cultural legacy of the 20th century and beyond. It has led to a proliferation of works of representation and re-memorialization which have brought in their wake concerns about a 'holocaust industry' and banalization. This volume sheds fresh light on some of the issues; such as the question of silence and denial; of the formation of contemporary identities - German; East European; Jewish or Israeli; the consequences of the legacy of the Shoah for survivors and for the 'second generation;' and the political; ideological; and professional implications of Shoah historiography. One of the conclusions to be drawn from this volume is that the 'Auschwitz code;' invoked in relation to all 'unspeakable' catastrophes; has impoverished our vocabulary; it does not help us remember the Shoah and its victims; but rather erases that memory.