Undoubtedly the historical settings and aspects of the Nazi Holocaust have been examined for many decades. Research has focused much on the victims of the Holocaust. However, the examination of the perpetrators of the Nazi Holocaust continues to cause anxiety and controversy. In my thesis I examine what possible constraints are imposed on authors/narrators and also readers by the sensitive and explosive subject of the representation of Holocaust perpetrators. I compare four texts of German Väterliteratur with Jonathan Littell’s “The Kindly Ones” to examine the questions of aesthetics and ethics in the literary representation of Holocaust perpetrators, and if we can deduce their motives and motivations from these representations. The examination of these Holocaust perpetrator representations is an important contribution to our understanding of the past as well as a contribution to the formation of public cultural memory and identity. All of the examined narratives form part of a continuously growing body of literary expressions of the Holocaust perpetrator and highlight a distinct obligation to the history they narrate – be it fictional or real. My research includes a comparative literary analysis of authentic narratives featuring fictional perpetrators in order to find meaning in these representations that enable the reader to form not only a connection with a dark part of the German past but also with post-war and post-unification debates on the representation of the Holocaust. It also demonstrates a recognition that Holocaust perpetrators are as multifaceted and multidimensional as the narratives they occupy. My thesis is not an exhaustive compilation but rather forms a small sample discussion that enables the reader to emphasise the Holocaust perpetrator. The narratives representing Holocaust perpetrators in contemporary literature serve to transmit history into the future as part of public and personal memory discourse, and the remembrance of history.

<p> <i>Fossoli di Carpi: The History and Memory of the Holocaust in Italy</i> analyzes the role and function of an Italian deportation camp during and immediately after World War II within the context of Italian, European, and Holocaust history. Drawing upon archival documents, trial proceedings, memoirs, and testimonies, <i>Fossoli di Carpi</i> investigates the distinct functions of Fossoli as an Italian prisoner-of-war camp for Allied soldiers captured in North Africa (1942-43), a Nazi deportation camp for Jews and political prisoners (1943-44), a postwar Italian prison for Fascists, German soldiers, and displaced persons (1945-47), and a Catholic orphanage (1947-52). This case study shines a spotlight on victims, perpetrators, Resistance fighters, and local collaborators to depict how the Holocaust unfolded in a small town and how postwar conditions supported a story of national innocence. My dissertation trains a powerful lens on the multi-layered history of Italy during the Holocaust and illuminates key elements of local involvement largely ignored by Italian wartime and postwar narratives, particularly compensated compliance, the normalization of mass murder, and the industrialization of the Judeocide in Italy.</p><p> The buoyancy and longevity of the <i>"brava gente"</i> myth in popular Holocaust memory has obscured Italian participation in the Judeocide. This study of a camp, from its origins to its postwar functions, exposes not only the pattern of silence that facilitated mass murder, but also the national and international political sources of that silence. Italy's wartime past is far from a single-note narration of benevolence. This emerges clearly as we scrutinize a decade of uses of Fossoli.</p>

Master of Philosophy (MPhil) / My thesis was designed to shed light on the numerous ways in which a small group of forty three orphaned Holocaust survivors adapted to their new lives in Australia, whilst keeping their preferred Jewish practices. I have attempted to explain the reasons for their choices in doing so. The majority abandoned their belief in the existence of God but felt obliged to keep, preserve and manifest a Jewish identity. This was achieved by celebrating some Jewish traditions. A few retained both belief in God and Jewish practices. All interviewees were born between 1927 and 1932. They originated from seven European countries and came from homes where the degree of Jewish observance varied. They survived the Holocaust whether incarcerated, in hiding or rescued by early Kindertransporte. The education and schooling of all the interviewees had been disrupted as a consequence of the Holocaust. A few continued their studies and completed tertiary education at university or technical college. The remainder embarked on acquiring various skills, which eventually assisted them in their occupation. My research demonstrates that the level of education or professional skills bear no correlation to the level of religiosity. The interviewees who came from acculturated backgrounds, continued with corresponding Jewish practices in their adult years. Belief in God had played no major role in the lives of their parents. However, practice of certain rituals had been integrated into their Jewish identity. Transporting these rhythms to Australia caused no difficulty for these interviewees in their post-war lives. A considerable transformation of Jewish rites and rituals occurred amongst the interviewees, who came from shtetls. Their previous unswerving belief in God had been challenged, so that it was either weakened or, in many cases, vanished. The adherence to Jewish traditions and laws had diminished. Many relinquished observation of the laws of kashrut. The Sabbath was no longer observed and revered as it had been in the pre-war years. The contrast of such entrenched Jewish traditions from shtetl lives to suburban life in Australia in the 1950s was too great. A significant difference emerged within the group of six interviewees, who kept their belief in God. Their backgrounds were Modern Orthodox. They came from larger towns or cities in three countries. Education had played a crucial part in their early life. Learning, in conjunction with adherence to religious traditions and laws had shaped their childhood and upbringing. The retention of faith and Orthodox traditions correlated with their love of learning. Modern Orthodox practices could be more easily maintained than the traditions followed in shtetls. All forty three interviewees kept their Jewish identity in one form or another. As Jewish identity can be explained in terms of religiosity, ethnicity, culture and nationalism, this continuity was possible. Survivors, who lost their belief in God, were able to continue with Jewish rituals, traditions and life cycle events as part of their ethnicity or culture. There is no doubt that for the large majority of the interviewees, the Holocaust affected their religious life. Losing their parents and siblings as a result of the Holocaust shattered their beliefs and resulted in an abandonment of their previously held beliefs and trust in God. As a consequence, changes occurred in their Jewish identity. They considered themselves as Jews, without adhering to any religious form. However, they were not prepared to relinquish all traces of Jewish identity. The memories of their lost families proved too treasured to allow them to abandon all Jewish ties. It is my conclusion that the rhythms of Jewish life constituted a defining factor in the re-building of their shattered lives after the Holocaust. They provided a framework which allowed and maintained the continuity of Jewish existence, their belief in God and Jewish rites and rituals. For those interviewees who abandoned their belief in God, Jewish rites and rituals served to provide identification with Jewish peoplehood and culture. However, many of the teenage survivors practised these rhythms and rituals in a secular/cultural manner, rather than emanating from a belief in God. These reactions reflect the complexity of Jewish identity in the modern and post modern world.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Melbourne, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [74]-78).

Thesis (Honors)--Liberty University Honors Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available through Liberty University's Digital Commons.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-246). Also available via World Wide Web through OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 246 p. : ill. (some col.). Advisor: Janet Hickman, College of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-246).

This is a study of survival and the 'Final Solution', taking its perspective from over One hundred-and-fifty eyewitness Jewish testimonies from the Wiener Library Archive. The importance of the victims' perspective is clear in that the majority of historiography uses a Nazi perspective in its analysis, leaving the Jews to tell of their experiences in separate autobiographies. In this way, the archive has largely been ignored by historians, yet provides some challenging insights into the three central aspects of the Holocaust of emigration, deportation, and forced labour. These aspects serve as the framework for analysis and focus on four key themes of survival. Firstly, the awareness of Jews as to the true nature of the Nazi regime. Secondly, how these Jews were treated by European non-Jews who have often been criticized in secondary literature for being anti-Semitic. Thirdly, how the various German regions were inconsistent in dealing with European Jews; sometimes indifferent to the low status of Jews in the Nazi hierarchy and other times imposing extensive and vicious procedures to further the policy of making Germany Judenfrei. Fourthly, the extent of pure luck in saving many Jews from the death centres. Ultimately, this study sets out both to analyse these four key themes individually and to discover how they influenced survival in combination. This will demonstrate the complexity of everyday existence in the Holocaust and how adapting to it often required more than just a single moment of adjustment to its severity.

A qualitative study was conducted to determine if Holocaust survivors’ food attitudes are influenced by their earlier experiences. The 25 survivor interviewees (14 males, 11 females) ranged in age from 71 to 85 years and resided in Miami-Dade and Broward, Florida counties. Most (56%) were interned in concentration camps during the Holocaust. Interviews were tape-recorded and later transcribed. Results showed earlier experiences influenced food attitudes. The most common themes were: 1) Difficulty throwing food away - even when spoiled; 2) Storing excess food; 3) Craving a certain food; 4) Difficulty standing in line for food; and 5) Anxiety when food is not readily available. Sub-themes included healthy eating and empathy for those currently suffering from hunger. Fourteen (56%) fast for religious holidays, but 7 (28%) said they already had “fasted enough.” Dietitians and others are encouraged to evaluate food service programs to minimize uncomfortable food-related situations for Holocaust survivors.

American composer Jake Heggie's For a Look or a Touch exists as the only classical music work of remembrance based on the topic of remembering homosexual victims of the Holocaust. The composer, after being approached by Mina Miller, wrote this 2007 composition as part of the Music of Remembrance concert series. The music of this work varies in style from a blazing swing dance to a haunting vocalise on "oo." Gene Scheer created the text, delivered in the work by the characters Manfred Lewin and Gad Beck, as a compilation of many influential stories from the documentary film Paragraph 175. For a Look or a Touch chronicles the horrendous treatment of homosexuals before, during, and after World War II. Chapters include an introduction to homosexual persecution during Hitler's reign, a look at current works of remembrance and how For a Look or a Touch came to fruition, an explanation of the texts created by Gene Scheer, a discussion on Jake Heggie's musical setting of this text, and avenues for possible future research. Appendices include text of the German anti-sodomy laws as written in Paragraph 175, the mission statement for the organization Music of Remembrance, transcripts from personal interviews with both Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, correspondence with Heggie, and the source delineation of Gene Scheer's text.