Seminar 4: Violence Flashcards
(14 cards)
When was Ida Fink’s “A Scrap of Time” written and what tone might it suggest?
1985, suggesting reflection and possible disillusionment
How does Fink describe the Holocaust’s passage of time?
Argues it cannot be measured through “months and years”
What does Fink highlight about the Nazi regime and labour camps?
Theme of disappearance and murder of ordinary people (her cousin David) + she exposes the lies behind the labour camps and how rumours spread in. communities
When was “The Arrival” by Olga Lengyel written and what does its timing indicate?
Written in 1947 shortly after the Holocaust suggesting it is from raw memory
What events does Lengyel describe?
Leading up to Auschwitz -> shows how Nazi’s created a “performance” of normal procedure by using everyday things (like ambulances) to supposedly take care of the sick in order to preserve order with minimal force
What themes are evident in “The Arrival”?
Themes of ‘luck’ in avoiding or being a victim to violence i.e. mother thought she was saving her son from labour but was actually sending him to death + elements of hierarchy i.e. working aged people deemed useful in terms of labour; the young and elderly were sentenced to death
When was Pelagia Lewinska’s “Twenty Months at Auschwitz” written and what did she say the aim of Auschwitz was?
Written in 1968 and said Auschwitz was made to smash, destroy and exterminate people systematically (nothing was accidental)
What 4 methods did the Nazi’s use to ‘destroy human spirit’ in “Twenty Months at Auschwitz”?
- Made inmates exist in their own dilth and excrement
- Gave them limited water with one tap for German women only
- Infestation of lice - were everywhere and hard to get rid of (psychological violence as well as physical)
- Worked women into the ground -> author describes being wet and working up to 17 hours a day
In “Twenty Months at Auschwitz” how does the author attempt to defy harsh treatment in Auschwitz to keep her ‘human dignity’?
- Made sure to clean herself with the water she got -> desire to clean was not for personal gain but as means to defy the institution to not become animals being put up for slaughter
- Sacrificed eating time to device themselves
When was Gisella Perl’s “A doctor in Auschwitz” published and what was her role in Auschwitz?
Published 1948 (not long after Auschwitz was liberated) and she was a doctor who helped deliver babies or perform abortions
In a “A Doctor in Auschwitz” what two themes are evident that are similar to ones in “Twenty Months at Auschwitz”?
Themes of losing human dignity (i.e. women having to give sexual favours to get things as basic as a peeve of string) but attempts by the author to resist this by refusing to + comparing inmates to animals i.e. describing the women at dinner time like cattle
What type of violence is evident against women in “A Doctor in Auschwitz”?
Violence through deprivation i.e. not giving Gisella Perl instruments or anaesthetic to perform abortions
How were women exploited in Gisella Perl’s memoir?
They were used for blood plasma for German soldiers and had have “love” in order to receive items from male prisoners (example of sexual violence)
What were the rules around childbirth in Gisella Perl’s “A Doctor in Auschwitz”?
Childbirth was not permitted -> women who were pregnant would be burnt alive if an abortion was not able to be performed
