The Power of Language. The ›Wörterverzeichnis‹ of H.G. Adler’s ›Theresienstadt 1941–1945‹

  • How have Jewish intellectuals reflected on the German language both in relation to and in the aftermath of the ›catastrophe‹? This essay explores one perspective, that of H.G. Adler (Prague, 1910 – London, 1988), a scholar, author, and survivor of the Shoah. Adler’s relationship to and reflections on the German language offer insights into the experience of persecution and survival as well as into the memory and representation of the Holocaust. His vast body of work testifies to both the possibility and the necessity of writing ›after Auschwitz‹, and indeed to the necessity of writing in German after the Holocaust. A survivor of Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and two satellite camps of Buchenwald (Niederorschel and Langenstein-Zwieberge), Adler went on to write in various forms, from the analytic to the poetic, about National Socialism, antisemitism, and life and death in the concentration and extermination camp system. His scholarly work made an important contribution to establishing the international and interdisciplinary field of Holocaust Studies, and his poetry and novels bear witness to his own personal experiences in the camps, albeit not in a directly autobiographical form.

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Metadaten
Author:Lynn L. WolffORCiDGND
URL:https://zeithistorische-forschungen.de/2-2023/6140
DOI:https://doi.org/10.14765/zzf.dok-2812
Parent Title (English):Zeithistorische Forschungen – Studies in Contemporary History
Publisher:ZZF – Centre for Contemporary History: Zeithistorische Forschungen
Place of publication:Potsdam
Document Type:Journal Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2024/09/09
Date of first Publication:2024/09/09
Release Date:2024/09/11
Volume:20
Issue:2
First Page:313
Last Page:330
ZZF Chronological-Classification:20. Jahrhundert
1940er
1945-
1900-1945
ZZF Regional-Classification:Europa
Europa / Westeuropa
Europa / Westeuropa / Deutschland
Europa / Mittel-/Osteuropa
Europa / Mittel-/Osteuropa / Tschechien/Slowakei/Tschechoslowakei
ZZF Topic-Classification:Nationalsozialismus
Holocaust
Politik
Kultur
Kommunikation
Medien
Begriffe
Historiographiegeschichte
Judentum
Transnationale Geschichte
Antisemitismus
Geistes- und Ideengeschichte
Intellectual History
Historische Semantik
Wissenschaft
Wissen
Zeitzeugen
Web-Publications:Zeithistorische Forschungen
Studies in Contemporary History: Articles:2 / 2023 Jüdische Sprachkritik nach dem Holocaust
Licence (English):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)