The Rescue Turn and the Politics of Holocaust Memory

Natalia Aleksiun (Edited by), Zofia Wóycicka (Edited by), Raphael Utz (Edited by), Ido de Haan (Contributions by), Sofie Lene Bak (Contributions by), Mark Roseman (Contributions by), Anna Bikont (Contributions by), Anna Marie Droumpouki (Contributions by), Sarah Gensburger (Contributions by), Liliana Hentosh (Contributions by), Hana Kubátová (Contributions by), Naum Trajanovski (Contributions by), Anika Walke (Contributions by)

9780814350836

Paperback / softback, published 5 March 2024

410 pages, 4 b&w photos, 2 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.272 kg

This volume considers the uses and misuses of the memory of assistance given to Jews during the Holocaust, deliberated in local, national, and transnational contexts. History of this aid has drawn the attention of scholars and the general public alike. Stories of heroic citizens who hid and rescued Jewish men, women, and children have been adapted into books, films, plays, public commemorations, and museum exhibitions. Yet, emphasis on the uplifting narratives often obscures the history of violence and complicity with Nazi policies of persecution and mass murder. Each of the ten essays in this interdisciplinary collection is dedicated to a different country: Belarus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The case studies provide new insights into what has emerged as one of the most prominent and visible trends in recent Holocaust memory and memory politics. While many of the essays focus on recent developments, they also shed light on the evolution of this phenomenon since 1945.