Holocaust Consciousness and Cold War Violence in Latin America (Suny Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture)

This book proposes the existence of a recognizably distinct Holocaust consciousness in Latin America since the 1970s. Community leaders, intellectuals, writers, and political activists facing state repression have seen themselves reflected in Holocaust histories and have used Holocaust terms to describe human rights atrocities in their own countries. In so doing, they have developed a unique, controversial approach to the memory of the Holocaust that is little known outside the region. Estelle Tarica deepens our understanding of Holocaust awareness in a global context by examining diverse Jewish and non-Jewish voices, focusing on Argentina, Mexico, and Guatemala. What happens, she asks, when we find the Holocaust invoked in unexpected places and in relation to other events, such as the Argentine "Dirty War" or the Mayan genocide in Guatemala? The book draws on meticulous research in two areas that have rarely been brought into contact-Holocaust Studies and Latin American Studies-and aims to illuminate the topic for readers who may be new to the fields. Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction: The “Latin Americanization” of the Holocaust 12 Latin American Holocaust Consciousness— Comparative, Paradigmatic, Political 16 Latin American Holocaust Consciousness in Global Perspective 21 Holocaust Comparisons and the Shadow of Denialism 24 Latin Americanism after Eichmann: Cold War Victims and Holocaust Victims 28 Structure of the Book 35 Chapter One: The Demands of the Times: Jewish Holocaust Discourse in Dictatorship and Early-Transition Argentina, 1976–1985 42 1976–1979: Sounding the Alarm 51 Jacobo Timerman and “Anti-Semitism without Soap” 57 The DAIA’s Response: Never Again “Jews of Silence” 62 Progressive Jewish Voices—“Isms” beyond Judaism 66 Marshall Meyer and Jewish Human Rights 71 1981–1985: The Holocaust in the Early Transitional Years 74 Victims and Heroes 77 Conclusion 84 Chapter Two: Holocaust Consciousness as Critical Consciousness in Post-dictatorship Argentina, 1995–2005 86 Human Rights and the Holocaust in Argentina 91 Sarlo, Shoah, and the Critique of the Testimonial “I” 96 Vezzetti and the Problem of the Victim in Argentina 102 Confines 1995–1998: Do Not Forget the Forgotten 108 Conclusion 117 Chapter Three: José Emilio Pacheco, Tununa Mercado, and Holocaust Testimony at the Mexico-Argentina Crossroads 120 Pacheco, the Holocaust, and the Memory of 1968 123 Metafictional Destabilizations in Morirás lejos 125 Pacheco on Industrial Modernity and Global Complicity in the Vietnam Era 127 Testimony Insists: The Changes from 1967 to 1977 131 The Memory Imperative Post-1968 133 Tununa Mercado: Solidarity and the Testimonial Situation 139 Mexico as Political Refuge 141 1975: Four Holocaust Testimonies 144 The Politics of Survivor Testimonies 148 Conclusion 153 Chapter Four: Demetrio Cojtí Cuxil’s “Maya Holocaust”: Victims and Vanquished in Post-genocide Guatemala 156 Victims and Vanquished in Cold War Historiography 161 The “Maya Holocaust” under Debate 164 The Complex Textual History of the “Maya Holocaust” 167 The Semantics of Genocide, Holocaust, Conquest 170 Conclusion 176 Chapter Five: Holocaust Testimony and Maya Testimony between the U.S. and Guatemala 180 Revisiting Stoll-Menchú: Holocaust Testimony and “Nontransparent Truths” 185 The Shoah-FAFG Testimonies 196 Conclusion 213 Conclusion 216 Notes 224 Bibliography 264 Index 300 "Examines how community leaders, writers, and political activists facing state repression in Latin America have drawn on and debated the validity of Holocaust terms to describe human rights atrocities in their own countries"-- Provided by publisher