~<{_oxroxp Pxisosori Memory A nISTORY is Eccl by Die Nida QxEORD‘Trauma, Memory, Holocaust Michael Rothberg 1a Rath Kldige’ 200: memoir Sill lor: A Holst Gilbad Ree somberd, the shor reese aacene chat oo pie in Aaschwit- Birkenau in 194, where, asa thireen year old, she vas imprisoned ‘wich her mother fer eng deported fom Viena via Tetesentad: Teas he tne of the eansprs fom Hungary The camp next to ‘urs was suddenly fll of Hungarian wesmen. They had come d- ec from home andwee uninformed, We aed them hgh the barbed wie in fs, hectic senrences, without welling them uch... Thee war a woman who poke exelent Geena nd er ugh, abou my agenMy mocker denied right away with this other moches who wosted abou the whereabouts of he hus- bund and son. They had been separated on the ramp, shes. My smother sznembered tat she al had pai of woolen oc, an to ftch she, and prepared ro them over the wire. Lined: 4 so ‘TRAUMA, EMORY, HOLOCAUST a ‘can drow bate than you ge ham come My the fied. ‘how the socks and they Fl hore ending up srck on che rp of the we, whee no one cou ric chem. Rages on both sides. 2 ful gestae Nex ay she Hangutan women wes gone thle ‘ap cmp liken ghost owe, oursocks sil impaled onthe wie! ‘Wire decades afer che evens sis sene in Auschwit-irkenas araer a small, emblematic episode im the author's own fe sory ‘oil simseaneosely reeling presse momentincalleciehitory— ‘thesden, as billing of Hungarian Jews latin he war Insetingan incimate encounce guns the backdrop of genocide Kiger provides sninage forthe waumatic rape ofthe Holocaust: the weapon ofthe empry camp andthe el presencocks ensagled in bucbed wire ‘optucesboth che ungespable murderofthe Hongaians and chemne- ‘monic ace that reminds ws oftheir fe. Klige’ poweefiltxr—st ‘once an acount of hes espetience anda commentary on the pstwat ‘wot arempts to grapple wih the lzaces of che Nas gnocide— thusbringy ngeher in che surpriing feof pale of socks the hee terms I want to ceeccon here: aus, memory, andthe Hola. ‘Besides mourning theloerof the aria, unnamed vim onthe cher sie of the barbed wire his seene alo offers a more general ex pression ofthe pradoal dynamic thar marks the raion between memory and crams in the context of genocide. As theories fom ‘Sign Fra nd ire ant o Cathy Caruth and Shoshana Fen fave aug ws tama is relly dat which has plac in conven- ‘ional marae fore and yer pests nonehees in the sing a ‘enmath fe eves a an urwelcome and unconcolableremindec® “Tema iin Car resonant phrase an “uncimed experience” that reams to hana us precielybecate we were not prepared for it and 7 ogee ied enon Yen Pea | Sera eo: an pn any inex | |vee pecxblihed means ofprocesingi phil? To he cre, ge dacs nose he nec yh el: eg sheallos her text oper the patadnes of tasmatie memory While he gas br se ff inher acount the imac ofthe murders that ook plac thee pei, anproceed and sack, He dhe socks “impaled onthe wie” “ims, eso, nd the Hlocast—esKlgeieligne and moving memoir cons there cece ces em c belong elf ‘siden ogeher Indeed, who coal qusion the link berwern the Nira rene of he Nx genocide of Bogan Jos he indvul sand collin sen eal, nd the eident need for renee brane of hung nd ce event ror? Tat ins been so eat ogsinod in ole consoues sha even posse ts ‘omnslogan: Nive agun—scaeproervethetruna ofgeocein snemory inorder war oepeio ndgulde acon inthe present “Teeiclingeniverorefeconsheconjnctonefirama memo", aad he Holos rmaspowel Ye [mane ges the gus ons his conelision tesserae more completed han hey topes a Bis. iri and phophicl efecion on the meaning fhe gece and eras ecu to ren the conjunc Son of uauma, menor, andthe Holocaust from deraing ino common ened loningihe dpe frei ought to pases How se hinkbue hese eywoeds ater Klip every ch se mo shen we want gehe try suaighe abou sucha ‘why par bral care our conection of hl elton has ae ‘wd implicaoosin the prevented fae “Let ae echinking this confnon by Msc wha ight sccm to beter ena ovis ofthe es ems the Holo- case Ongoingcolcy rocarch sought deenine wea abroed pb recogion ofthe prelate genocide oflewsemerge ec pri Pa at nary Dan pin ‘sim ‘TRAE, MEMORY MOLOCAUET % ‘bu one thing i dear: che English word “Holocaust” only belay [became the singular, eapcalzed name ofan event considered unique, sd this beled naming probably took pace sometime in there “The ine not juseone of emansicrnowchasc hioia survey of irene national contents by Perr Novick, To Seg, and Annee ‘Wied have sought to demonszate tha che perception ofthe genocide singularity tok dezades ro emerge For instance he sci ‘log ee Alexander ha aed how she evens ofthe Shoah were Inkl subsumed under the mere gene concep of Naz "aroctis” nd ony le ecogized aa policy even by «genocidal incention? Recent scholarship at sought to compliare hat ofa posteat mative: books by Hila Diner on the Unied Sas and Fangs ‘Baouvi on France, among othe, have contested the idea chat in the ‘it iicen yeas fe the end of Wold War ehere was no cllecire cognition ofthe exten of Jews aa dstincand parca x treme fect of Nei policy separate frm the waging ofthe wat* "Yes despise hi cm merging consenm,feselscems vient hat ‘broad publ consciousness ofthe eventsf the Naxpeiod dd change setngin cheesy 1960 and cheer change had Something. 60 wid he powefl intentional impact of he Eichmann Tian Jera- Salem Tha 6 erent—pars of which wee broadcom lesion a the Unied Stace and chewhere, while aes flowed iin the cour room and oa the radlo— brought alge amber of itin-winesses into che public phere and helped cexe Boch new ident (the Holo ‘couse surivr) and anew gent of discourse (ral testimony). Thee swat do exp aged by the Lae sate ocean undeseandng ‘Per ae i Lif Yb i Mai Spe ‘Sacre Ree ate Besos) tae ee fic a re in {Nan inet ht ot ae (rat Die Pete ih Reo dln Aner mei