Emotions in Yiddish Ghetto Diaries : Encountering Persecutors and Questioning Humanity

"This book uses an empathic reading of Yiddish diarists' feelings, evaluations, and assessments about persecutors in the Warsaw, Lodz, and Vilna ghettos to present an emotional history of persecution in the Nazi ghettos. It re-centers the daily experiences of psychological and physical violence that made up ghetto life and that ultimately led victims to use their diaries as a place of agency to question and attempt to maintain their own beliefs in pre-war Jewish and Enlightenment ethics and morality. Holocaust scholars and students, as well as people interested in personal narratives, interpersonal relations, and the problem of dehumanization during the Holocaust will find this study particularly thought-provoking. Essentially, this book highlights the benefits of reading with empathy and paying attention to emotions for understanding the experiences of people in the past, especially those facing tragedy and trauma"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface: Language and Sources Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Introduction: Reading Ghetto Diaries Methodology Research Scope Diaries as Sources Place Language A Dearth of Female Voices Organization and Concluding Remarks Notes Chapter 2: The Cities and Their People Regional Commonalities Up to World War II Religious Life Cultural Life Interwar Antisemitism Language Divergent Histories of the Three Cities Lodz Lodz’s “Archives of the Eldest of the Jews” and Diaries Warsaw Warsaw’s Oyneg Shabes and Diaries Vilna Vilna’s Unnamed Archive and Largely Lost Diaries A Consistency of Perceptions Notes Chapter 3: The Art of Cruelty A New Taxonomy Taking Advantage Persecuting Administratively Jewish Administrators in Warsaw Jewish Administrators in Lodz German Administrators in Vilna Jewish Administrators in Vilna Robbing Guarding Beating Rounding Up Killing Conclusion Notes Chapter 4: Censure and Casting Out Diarists’ Word Choices Loaded Language Kruk’s and Ringelblum’s Diaries as Exemplars Moral Reckoning Categories of Evaluation Criminals Traditional Enemies The Nazi Beast Other Beasts? The Un-human Positive Perpetrators? Lords and Masters Conclusion Notes Chapter 5: The Deepening Darkness Emotions in Diaries Moving to the Warsaw Ghetto Moving to the Vilna Ghetto In Vilna, Death From the Start (June 1941–Dec. 1941) Intensification of Suffering in Warsaw and Lodz, 1940–early 1942 Vilna: “Stability,” 1942 On the Eve of the Great Deportation from Warsaw Mass Deportation from Lodz, Shpere, September 1942 Conclusion Notes Chapter 6: Conclusion: Humanity, Expectation, Agency, and Morality Humanity Expectation Agency Morality Notes Bibliography Diaries in the Archives Published Versions of Archival Diaries Other Published Diaries Other Published Primary Sources Other Unpublished Primary Sources Encyclopedias Websites Secondary Sources Index