Open AccessMy parents were killed in Sobibor, but it feels as if I was there: Imagination in my Interviews
Author(s) -
Selma Leydesdorff
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
historein
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2241-2816
pISSN - 1108-3441
DOI - 10.12681/historein.14386
Subject(s) - commit , loneliness , privilege (computing) , wonder , psychology , stupidity , social psychology , plaintiff , psychoanalysis , developmental psychology , law , political science , database , computer science
During the Demjanjuk trial in Munich (2009–2011), I had the unexpected privilege to interview the Nebenkläger (co-plaintiffs) who testified in court about Sobibor. They related extremely sad stories about losing fathers, mothers, spouses and close family. In this article, I attempt to analyse their extreme loneliness and I wonder how to interpret their fragmented language of trauma. What kind of knowledge did they commit, and in what way are their stories different from the stories told by survivors?