Documentary Films Have Played an Important Part in...

Documentary films and their representations of the Holocaust have served not only to speak their ‘truth of the atrocities but also to document changing paradigms of social thought concerning Holocaust ‘truth. Holocaust History and its documentation: Theodor Adornos famous 1949 injunction that ‘to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric is indicative of the initial approaches of documentary to the subject matter. The first documentary footage of the Holocaust was shot as Allied troops entered the camps of Bergen-Belsen and Dachau, but this footage was archived by British Ministry of Information, wary of the political and social repercussions of such explicit imagery in a war-torn and divided Germany. These censorious†¦show more content†¦Nine million dead haunt this landscape. Who is on the lookout from this strange tower to warn us of the coming of new executionersÂ… Somewhere among us, there are lucky Kapos, reinstated officers and unknown informers. There are those who refused to believe this, or believed it only from time to time. And there are those of us who sincerely look upon the ruins today as if the old concentration camp monster were dead and buried beneath them. (Night and Fog) The narration is more than a call to arms, a jolt to the collective memory. The film is an apt social commentary on the broader issues of the crimes of humanity and those who stand on the sidelines. In this way, Resnais purpose, self-admittedly an indirect attack on the French involvement in conflicts in Algeria and Indochina, becomes broadly understood. The film is very much symptomatic of the 1950s. For the contemporary audience, the lack of any extensive reference to the specifically ethnic nature of the genocide is indicative of a reluctance to see the deportations as unique, individual narratives, a tendency that would later be countered in Shoah. The word ‘Jewish for instance is mentioned only once in the narration when the narrator counts ‘Stern, a Jewish student from Amsterdam (Night and Fog). Similarly, censorshipShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesJoanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting the subject of organisational theory. WhilstRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesBrier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David MRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 PagesTaipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Copyright  © 2003 by Ennis Barrington Edmonds The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted