Re:Against Redeeming Catastrophe: In Memory of Ruth Klüger
by scythe on Thursday December 03, 2020 @10:29AM
(#25289742)
>One reports how in Jerusalem he made the acquaintance of an old Hungarian Jew who was a survivor of Auschwitz, and yet this man cursed the Arabs and held them all in contempt. How can someone who comes from Auschwitz talk like that? the German asks. I get into the act and argue, perhaps more hotly than need be. What did he expect? Auschwitz was no instructional institution…You learned nothing there, and least of all humanity and tolerance. Absolutely nothing good came out of the concentration camps, I hear myself saying, with my voice rising, and [the student] expects catharsis, purgation, the sort of thing you go to the theatre for? They were the most useless, pointless establishments imaginable. That is the one thing to remember about them if you know nothing else. (Still Alive, 65)
An amazing quote -- italics mine. Article is worth the read.
An amazing quote -- italics mine. Article is worth the read.