scholarly journals Feminist Interpretations of the Holocaust

Author(s):  
Erika Potter

The emergence of the study of the history of the Holocaust following the “silent years”, which occupied nearly two decades of the post-war era, coincided with the establishment of second wave feminism. Despite the creation of the discipline of Women’s and Gender Studies and the emerging variety of women’s history within post secondary institution, discussion of women in the Holocaust did not become a part of the discourse of history until the late seventies. In addition to the lag in addressing  the study of the history of women in the Holocaust, the application of feminist theory to Holocaust history was late to the academic conversation. Feminist history of the Holocaust was finally studied in the early eighties, in order to better understand not only women in the Holocaust but also the Holocaust more generally. However, the discourse failed to evolve and diversify as quickly as other forms of feminist history.   As a result of the perceived exceptionality of the Holocaust within the context of history and even within the more specified picture of the history of  genocide, the application of feminist theory as well as  the understanding of the experiences of women and  the implications of gender within the Holocaust remain relatively stunted within the context of Holocaust and feminist history.

Author(s):  
R. J. W. Evans

The formation of Czechoslovakia introduced a remarkable novelty into the heart of the European continent after World War I. It was an unexpected creation and a completely new state, whereas its neighbours as successors to the Habsburg Monarchy either carried historic names and connections (Austria, Hungary, Poland), or were reincarnations of existing sovereign realms (Yugoslavia), or both (Rumania). Moreover, Czechoslovakia seemed uniquely to embody the ideals of the post-war settlement, as a polity with strongly western, democratic, and participatory elements. Yet Czechoslovakia was a historical construct, deeply rooted in earlier developments. It constitutes classic terrain for a study of the ‘nationalist and fascist Europe’ which emerged after 1918. This book deals with the history of Czechoslovakia and discusses Czech nationalism, along with the Czechs' relationship with Slovaks and Germans, Britain's policy towards Czechoslovakia, and gender and citizenship in the first Czechoslovak Republic.


2020 ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
Кринка [Krinka] Видаковић-Петров [Vidaković-Petrov]

Transgenerational Memory: From Pre-Holocaust to Post-YugoslaviaThe study focuses on Fanika as an example of documentary writing by firstand second-generation survivors, i.e. women in the mother-daughter relationship (Hanna Altarac/Fanika Lučić and Branka Jovičić), both from Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The timeline of the life story of Hanna/Fanika, born in 1922 in a Sephardic family from Sarajevo, coincides on the macro level with the history of Yugoslavia (the establishment of the state and the interwar period, World War Two and the Holocaust, the postwar socialist period, the break-up of the country and post-Yugoslavia), which is important for the contextualization of the narrative. We have analyzed the motivation of first-generation survivor Fanika Lučić to present her memories of the Holocaust, highlighting the importance of communicative memory as an instrument of their transmission to a second-generation survivor as well as the process involved in their transfer from private to public narrative. Further analysis refers to the generic frames of the narrative, its hybrid character, and its liminal position at a point where biography and autobiography meet and interact. Mediation is a key procedure in Fanika, so attention has been dedicated to determining the degrees of mediation, their variation throughout the narrative and their impact on the substructures (narrative segments). Finally, we have identified, interpreted, and contextualized several gender markers appearing at various levels of the text. In conclusion, the book was designed not only to transmit the Holocaust testimony of Fanika Lučić, but also to provide a biographical account of her life in socialist Yugoslavia, her experience of the war in Bosnia, and the final phase of her life as a Canadian immigrant. Transgenerational memory and gender play a key role in the hybrid structure of this book, which is a welcome contribution to Yugoslav Holocaust literature. Pamięć międzypokoleniowa: od czasów przed Holokaustem do okresu postjugosłowiańskiegoArtykuł analizuje książkę Fanika jako przykład prozy dokumentalnej, autorstwa dwóch kobiet należących kolejno do pierwszego i drugiego pokolenia ocalałych z Holokaustu. Są to pochodzące z Sarajewa matka i córka – Hanna Altarac/Fanika Lučic i Branka Jovičic. Ramy czasowe historii życia Hanny/Faniki (ur. 1922 w sefardyjskiej rodzinie) zbiegają się z historią Jugosławii (powstanie państwa i okres międzywojenny, II wojna światowa i Holokaust, powojenny socjalistyczny okres, rozpad kraju i okres postjugosłowiański), co stanowi istotny punkt wyjścia dla kontekstualizacji narracji. W artykule poddano analizie zarówno motywację ocalałej z pierwszego pokolenia Faniki Lučić do przedstawienia swoich wspomnień z Holokaustu, podkreślając znaczenie pamięci komunikacyjnej jako narzędzia służącego do przekazywania wspomnień ocalałemu z drugiego pokolenia, jak i proces transferu wspomnień z narracji prywatnej do publicznej. Dalsza analiza odnosi się do ogólnych ram narracji, jej hybrydowego charakteru i jej pozycji liminalnej w punkcie, w którym biografia i autobiografia spotykają się i współdziałają. Ponieważ mediacja jest procedurą kluczową w Fanice, zwrócono uwagę na określenie stopnia mediacji, jej zmienności poprzez narrację, a także jej wpływu na narracyjne podstruktury (segmenty narracyjne). Wreszcie zidentyfikowano, zinterpretowano i osadzono w kontekście kilka wyznaczników płci pojawiających się na różnych poziomach tekstu. Podsumowując, książka miała na celu nie tylko przekazanie świadectwa o Holokauście Faniki Lučić, ale także przedstawienie biograficznego opisu jej życia w socjalistycznej Jugosławii, jej doświadczeń wojny w Bośni i ostatniej fazy jej życia jako imigrantki w Kanadzie. Pamięć międzypokoleniowa i płeć odgrywają kluczową rolę w hybrydowej strukturze tej książki, która wnosi istotny wkład do jugosłowiańskiej literatury Holokaustu.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Konrad Matyjaszek

Wall and window: the rubble of the Warsaw Ghetto as the narrative space of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish JewsOpened in 2013, the Warsaw-based POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is situated in the center of the former Nazi Warsaw ghetto, which was destroyed during its liquidation in 1943. The museum is also located opposite to the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes and Martyrs, built in 1948, as well as in between of the area of the former 19th-century Jewish district, and of the post-war modernist residential district of Muranów, designed as a district-memorial of the destroyed ghetto. Constructed on such site, the Museum was however narrated as a “museum of life”, telling the “thousand-year old history” of Polish Jews, and not focused directly on the history of the Holocaust or the history of Polish antisemitism.The paper offers a critical analysis of the curatorial and architectural strategies assumed by the Museum’s designers in the process of employing the urban location of the Museum in the narratives communicated by the building and its main exhibition. In this analysis, two key architectural interiors are examined in detail in terms of their correspondence with the context of the site: the Museum’s entrance lobby and the space of the “Jewish street,” incorporated into the main exhibition’s sub-galleries presenting the interwar period of Polish-Jewish history and the history of the Holocaust. The analysis of the design structure of these two interiors allows to raise a research question about physical and symbolic role of the material substance of the destroyed ghetto in construction of a historical narrative that is separated from the history of the destruction, as well as one about the designers’ responsibilities arising from the decision to present a given history on the physical site where it took place.Mur i okno. Gruz getta warszawskiego jako przestrzeń narracyjna Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLINOtwarte w 2013 roku warszawskie Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN stanęło pośrodku terenu dawnego nazistowskiego getta warszawskiego, zburzonego podczas jego likwidacji w 1943 roku, naprzeciwko powstałego w roku 1948 Pomnika Bohaterów i Męczenników Getta; jednocześnie pośrodku obszaru dawnej, dziewiętnastowiecznej warszawskiej dzielnicy żydowskiej i powojennego modernistycznego osied­la Muranów, zaplanowanego jako osiedle-pomnik zburzonego getta. Zlokalizowane w takim miejscu Muzeum przedstawia się jako „muzeum życia”, opowiadające „tysiącletnią historię” polskich Żydów, niebędące insty­tucją skoncentrowaną na historii Zagłady Żydów i historii polskiego antysemityzmu.Artykuł zawiera krytyczną analizę kuratorskich i architektonicznych strategii przyjętych przez twórców Mu­zeum w procesie umieszczania środowiska miejskiego w roli elementu narracji historycznej, komunikowanej przez budynek Muzeum i przez jego wystawę główną. Szczegółowej analizie poddawane są dwa kluczowe dla projektu Muzeum wnętrza architektoniczne: główny hall wejściowy oraz przestrzeń „żydowskiej ulicy” stanowiąca fragment dwóch galerii wystawy głównej, poświęconych historii Żydów w Polsce międzywojen­nej oraz historii Zagłady. Analiza struktury projektowej tych dwóch wnętrz służy próbie sformułowania od­powiedzi na pytanie badawcze dotyczące właściwości fizyczno-symbolicznych materialnej substancji znisz­czonego getta w odniesieniu do narracji abstrahującej od historii jego zniszczenia oraz odpowiedzialności projektantów wynikającej z decyzji o umieszczeniu narracji historycznej w fizycznej przestrzeni, w której wydarzyła się historia będąca tej narracji przedmiotem.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-299
Author(s):  
Mercy C. Oyet ◽  
Kara A. Arnold ◽  
Kathryne E. Dupré

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the consequences of experienced workplace incivility when female employees perceive that they are different from their workgroup. The authors examine how women’s perceptions of demographic dissimilarity from their workgroup moderate the relationships between incivility and psychological wellbeing, and between incivility and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach A total of 125 female employees of a post-secondary institution participated in this study. Participants were recruited through an electronic mailing list over the course of one month and completed an online survey. Findings Experienced workplace incivility among females is related to poorer psychological wellbeing and higher turnover intentions. Controlling for actual age and gender dissimilarity at the department level, perceived gender dissimilarity from one’s workgroup moderated the workplace incivility-turnover intentions relationship, whereby the relationship was strengthened at low, but not high levels of experienced incivility. Perceived gender dissimilarity did not moderate the incivility–psychological wellbeing relationship. Perceived age dissimilarity was not a significant moderator. Research limitations/implications The role of perceived dissimilarity and other personal contextual variables should be considered in future work on selective incivility. Perceived dissimilarity can influence some of the negative outcomes associated with incivility, particularly at low levels. Originality/value This research extends the selective incivility literature by incorporating a relational demography perspective to the study of female targets’ experience of workplace incivility. Findings suggest that perceptions of difference may affect the interpretation and outcomes associated with females’ experience of incivility.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Kopf-Beck ◽  
Felix Gaisbauer ◽  
Susanne Dengler

The media are playing an increasingly important role in teaching the public about the history of the Holocaust. In Germany, however, Holocaust documentaries have been criticized for eliciting unintended, adverse reactions among the viewers, such as distancing from the victims or calling for closing the books on the past. This criticism stems from the concern that such reactions pose an obstacle to critical-constructive engagement and coming to terms with history. This study examines the interplay between cinematic representation of the Holocaust, film-induced defensive strategies, and group-based emotions of shame. Based on a content analysis of six different film excerpts, we investigated the mediating effects of four defensiveness strategies (distancing from victims, victim blaming, closeness to perpetrators, and rejection of the relevance of the Holocaust) on group-based shame in a sample of 224 pupils from Germany’s third post-war generation in a quasi-experimental field study. The results reveal the complexity of film-portrayals which can foster as well as hinder group-based shame and thus, a constructive dealing with past injustice.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mofiyinfoluwa Badmos

The number of international students in Canada has been increasing over the years, as the Canadian government and educational institutions have begun to acknowledge their economic and cultural benefits (Alboim, 2011). This study explores the services currently provided by post-secondary institutions in the Greater Toronto Area to international students. More specifically, it is a gender-based analysis, exploring the specific needs (and if and how they are met) of female international students from Nigeria. Data were gathered from in-depth audio-recorded interviews with eight female international students from Nigeria and two international student advisors working in post-secondary institutions in the GTA. Analyzing the interviews showed that there are unique needs of international students from Nigeria and gender should be taken into account when considering their needs. The study utilizes post-colonial feminist theory and intersectionality as frameworks. It is hoped that this research will contribute to a greater understanding of the unique experiences and needs of some female international students from Nigeria. Key words: International Students, services, female, Canada, Nigeria


Author(s):  
Jocelyn Olcott

In June 1975, thousands of people converged on Mexico City for the United Nations (UN) conference celebrating International Women’s Year (IWY), the first of four UN women’s conferences that would eventually include those in Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), and Beijing (1995). Scholars and activists regard IWY as a watershed moment in transnational second wave feminism. Billed as the “greatest consciousness-raising event in history,” the IWY events included both an official conference, which offered an unprecedented opportunity to put women at the center of international policymaking, and a parallel nongovernmental organization (NGO) tribune, which launched a new generation of civil society organizations focused on issues related to women and gender. This book’s first part explores the history of the IWY conference. It particularly attends to the ways that geopolitical and institutional rivalries, competing ideologies, and material constraints fostered the idea of IWY, shaped the plan to hold an international conference, and resulted in the Mexico City conference serving as the year’s centerpiece. The second part follows the action in the conference and tribune, including conflicts over representation, sexuality, and human rights. The final part considers IWY’s legacies, which included the creation of enduring transnational NGO networks and far-reaching changes within the United Nations. Although the Mexico City conference is widely remembered for its failure to achieve consensus, this book demonstrates that IWY’s greatest achievements emerged from the moments that invited wide-ranging perspectives and even open conflict.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Author(s):  
Erin E. Ayala ◽  
Alison Riley-Schmida ◽  
Kathryn P. A. Faulkner ◽  
Kelsey Maleski

Competitive cycling is a sport with limited levels of diversity, particularly concerning gender. Women and gender diverse cyclists are likely to experience actions from others that reveal underlying assumptions based on their gender, race, or other cultural identities. This mixed-methods investigation used feminist theory and a transformative paradigm to highlight the experiences of women and gender diverse cyclists in a male-dominated sport. The authors explored the nature of microaggressions, perceived underlying messages, responses to such actions, and the feelings provoked. Two hundred and seventy-nine cyclists responded to the survey. Over three-quarters of participants reported being bothered by one or more microaggressions that they experienced in the competitive cycling community. Three primary themes emerged for types of microaggressions: assumptions based on gender, inequitable treatment, and harassment. A small percentage of participants noted an absence of microaggressions in competitive cycling environments. Although participants responded to microaggressions in several ways and experienced a range of emotions, the most common response to microaggressions was to not engage. Over half of the participants reported feelings of anger or frustration due to the microaggressions, followed by feelings of sadness. The results from this study complement what researchers have previously reported regarding female athletes and microaggressions in other sports. Implications and findings are discussed in the context of community norms and the need for a paradigm shift to promote inclusivity and diversity in the sport.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-147
Author(s):  
Andrzej Rykała

The fall of the Third Reich, turning the “most tragic page” in the history of the Jewish nation, i .e . the Second World War, did not mean the end of the tragedy for Jews on Polish soil. Even before the end of the greatest confl in the history of humankind, in the areas liberated from Nazi Germany occupation, many survivors of the Holocaust experienced acts of ruthless violence. However, very few of the numerous victims of the post-war anti-Jewish terror have been commemorated in public space. To a very small extent the form of public commemoration also covered earlier wartime cases of collective murders committed against Jews by Polish Christians. Even if the sites of the dramatic events which occurred in the shadow of the Holocaust were marked, the complete truth about their course was not restored everywhere.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document