Abstract
To show the functioning of different platforms and presentation circumstances, Delage deploys and examines the written, oral, and audiovisual testimonies of Holocaust survivor Simon Srebnik between 1945 and 1997. He argues that audiovisual transmission communicates the survivors’ body language, voice texture, and moments of silence that are as critical for understanding trauma as the content of the testimony itself. By contrasting and comparing the modes of delivery, Delage suggests that established archives need to contemplate and anticipate future platforms for the preservation of audiovisual Holocaust testimonies. He also draws lessons concerning ethical standards for public use of human rights testimonies.
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- 1.
Chełmno, 70 kilometres northwest of Łódź in the Reichsgau Wartheland, the largest Polish territory occupied, annexed and incorporated into the Third Reich, was the first Nazi extermination camp and the only one to have used gas trucks exclusively. It was in operation from 8 December 1941 to March 1943 and then again in June and July 1944. Approximately 150,000 people, mostly Jews from the Warthegau and the Łódź Ghetto, were gassed there.
- 2.
The observations between brackets are those of Józef Domżał.
- 3.
“Relacje zeznania ocalalych zydów”, Oryginal, mnp. 6 s., 210 × 295 mm., jez. Pol.
- 4.
The rushes of Lanzmann’s interview with Srebnik, which are at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC, last over five hours, not including the sequences shown in the film.
- 5.
“Transcript of the Shoah interview with Simon Srebnik, translated by Sarah Lippincott in August 2008”, p. 6 (Part 1), The Claude Lanzmann Shoah Collection at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
- 6.
There are no pictures of Srebnik in the Łódź Ghetto and the Chełmno camp, so the first time a face could be put on his name was during his appearance at the Eichmann trial.
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Delage, C. (2018). Simon Srebnik: Narratives of a Holocaust Survivor. In: Ristovska, S., Price, M. (eds) Visual Imagery and Human Rights Practice. Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and IAMCR Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75987-6_7
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