In the Czech Republic the legal framework allows for the set-up of many various types of non-profit NGO's. In this country the number of civic associations prevailing is unequivocal. In this thesis, I focus on the specifics of an NGO in the areas of finance, accounting and auditing. And further, I will show these trough the example of the Foundation of Holocaust Victims.

This paper considers the symbiotic relationship between iconic visual representations of the Holocaust – specifically film and Holocaust sites – and processes of Holocaust memorialization. In conjunction, specific sites and objects related to the Holocaust have become icons. I suggest that specific Holocaust sites as well as Holocaust films can be perceived as elements of one and/or multiple translocal assemblage/s. My focus in this analysis is on the role of knowledge production and witness creation in Holocaust memorialization. It is not my intention to diminish the role of Holocaust memorialization; rather, I seek to look beyond representational aspects, and consider the processual relationships involved in the commemoration of the Holocaust in institutions, such as memorial sites and museums, as well as through elements of popular culture, such as films. Furthermore, I analyze the tangible and intangible layers of memories and meaning present in Holocaust films and sites through the lens of palimpsests. These conceptual frameworks allow me to consider how visual representations of the Holocaust, such as film, and site inform each other? How are specific representations of Holocaust sites and objects shaping and informing the commemoration of the Holocaust in the 21st century? / Graduate / 0326 / 0335 / 0751 / myriamt@uvic.ca

L’étude thématique de l’évolution de la représentation de la Shoah fait avant tout ressortir des constances dans ce corpus filmique. Les traditions propres au cinéma, la tendance des auteurs à esquiver les aspects inconcevables mais vrais de l’événement, et la subordination aux forces politiques et sociales expliquent ce phénomène. C’est ainsi que la représentation des chambres à gaz obéit à une constance d’ordre éthique. La révolte militaire des civils souffre d’une représentation servile. La mémoire de la Shoah, déterminée par les instances officielles des pays étudiés, correspond aux traditions de ces derniers et reflète leur nature profonde. L’instrumentalisation de la Shoah, différente d’un pays à l’autre, est une donnée essentielle de ce cinéma. La spécificité de la Shoah est ignorée : les enfants comme ultimes victimes, le caractère universel du judéocide. Le défaut de représentation des Conseils Juifs, la sous représentation des femmes par rapport aux hommes participent au défaut de représentation du cinéma. L’évolution relevée est le plus souvent le résultat de la conformité des œuvres aux changements politiques et sociaux du pays concerné. La Shoah a acquis, à travers le cinéma, le statut de mythe essentiel de la démocratie libérale, au nom de valeurs morales universelles, masquant ainsi le syndrome d’une société incapable de se référer à son propre passé et de se projeter dans l’avenir en l’absence de projet spirituel et moral. / The thematic study about the evolution of the Holocaust representation emphasizes the works’ domination of the constancy. The Cinema’s proper traditions, the authors’ tendencies to evade the inconceivable but true aspects of the event, and the subordination to political and social strengths explain this phenomenon. Thus, the gas chambers’ representation obeils all ethical standards. The civilians’ military revolt suffers from an uninspiring representation. The Holocaust’s remembrance, determined by the official authorities of the studied countries, corresponds to the latter’s traditions and reflects their deep nature. The Holocaust’s instrumentalization, different from one country to another is an essential element of cinema. The Holocaust’s specificity is being ignored: children as the ultimate victims, the judeocide’s universal character, the Jewish Councils’ defect of representation, women’s under-representation as compared to men contribute to cinema’s fault of representation. The noticed evolution is most of the time the result of the works’ conformity with the political and social changes of the concerned country. Through cinema, Holocaust gained the status of an essential myth of the liberal democracy in the name of universal moral values, hiding thus the syndrome of a society unable to refer to its own past and to plan ahead in absence of spiritual and moral project.