Surviving the Holocaust: Jean Améry and Primo Levi by Livia Pavelescu A thesis submitted to the Department of German Language and Literature in confonnity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada August 2000 Copyright OLivia Pavelescu, 2000 National Li'brary Bibliothèque nationale du Canada 9u-isitio ns and Acquisitions et &b iographi Senrices services bibliographiques 395 wtmlgm Street 395. Ne WeUington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 OttawaON K f A W Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distniute or sell reproduire, prêter, distri'buer ou copies of îhis thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/fiIm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur fomat électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantîal extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract This study is predicated on the assumption that there is a culture of the Holocaust in Austria and Itaiy and that its strongest manifestation is the literahire of the Holocaust. The purpose of this thesis is twofold. First it detemiines a representative spectnun of reaction to the Holocaust by using two texts Se questo è un uomo (Sumival in Auschwitz) and Jemeits von Schuld und Sühne (At the MNld'S Limits) of two prominent writen, Primo Levi and Jean Améry. Secondly, the text-based analysis that forms the core of the thesis is grounded and tied to the histoncal context of the Austrian and Italian Jewry that 1 present in the second chapter of the manuscript. The discussion that follows tracks two representative Jewish Holocaust sumivors, one Italian and one Austnan. Primo Levi's Holocaust work is analyzed not so much for its ethical implication or moral importance but for the ways in which Levi was able to craft a significant rhetoric of the Holocaust. Jean Améry's work is treated not only for the position of the intellechial in Auschwitz but also for his problematic feelings of confusion, narnely the necessity and impossibility of being a Jew. Though Levi and Amery are quite distinct in terms of üterary abilities and purposes in writing, their trauma is presented as a survivofs memoir. The final segment of this thesis compares the texts by the two authors in detail, while a bnef conclusion situates Améry and Levi within the broader context of Holocaust stuvival memoirs. Acknowledgement s 1 would like to thank my two SupeMsors Dr. Ulrich Scheck and Dr. Donato Santeramo for their helpful support during the program at Queen's University and especially during tie time while 1 was writing my thesis. 1 would also like to express my thankfulness to them for making it possible for me to go abroad to do my research. 1 owe thanks to the German Department of Queen's University for the financial support I have received during my years at Queen's University. There are niends to thank in Montreal: Monica and Martin for their support and expert advice with my thesis. This has been an exhausting thesis to write. Fominately my husband Giuseppe's patience, like his great encouragement, seems boundless. 1 am lovingly grateful for everything. Lastly, 1 also acknowledge the support I received fiom my parents. TabIe of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Historical Considerations 2.1 From Hitler and the Jewish Question to Auschwitz 2.2 A Bnef History of Events: The Jews in Austria and Italy 2.3 Austria 2.4 ItaIy 2.5 Memory 3. Primo Levi: Se questo è un tiomo (Survivd in Auschwitz) 4. Jean Améry: Jenseiis von Schuld und Sühne (Ai the Mind's Limirs) 5. Differences and Sirnilarities: Primo Levi & Jean Améry 6. Conclusion 7. Appendix Works Cited Vita 1. Introduction The Holocaust theme, informed by ineradicable motifs and unparalleled contemporary relevance, is still very much alive in current film, Song and literature. Both the cultural and political debates on the Second World War in general and the continuing cornparisons with current historical events have decisively contributed to the re- ' emergence of the Holocaust theme. At the same time the vast production of texts, whether prose, poetry or drama, has played an extremely importarit role in keeping the tragedy of the Holocaust alive today. In particular, works which have been published by survivon, inhabitants of Germany and of its Geman-speaking occupied territories and survivon from Italy. have borne witness to the continuing relevance and ramifications of these tragic events. The writings created in these countries are far from being one and the same. In fact, we are confionted with a wide range of approaches, techniques and styles that diversely recount the Holocaust expenence. Significantly, among these writers there are radical differences other than those generated linguistically through the various languages employed. These are apparent first in the locale of the experience, secondly in its rendering, and finally, in how the various authors have dealt with its traurnatizing aftennath. In this sense, Jean Améry and Primo Levi can be considered emblematic writers of the Holocaust as they both experienced the atrocities at Auschwitz first-hand. Yet, at the same time, even though the descriptions of the crimes cornrnitted at Auschwitz are clearly not identical, the NO authors are nonetheless closely paraileled in their wrihngs. They put forward two distinct and at thes radically divergent ways of 1 For example, one could point to the recent genocide attempts in various parts of coping with their Holocawt experience. The No authors also differ on how to ensure that one never brget the attempt to exterminate the Jewish race. Analyzing and cornparhg the works of Jean Améry and Primo Levi shed some light on the Auschwitz experience in generai and on the important yet different roles they assurned in making certain that their own survivai of the Holocaust was not in vain. In recent years the focus on the Holocaust has become obscured by competing fields of interest. Such ancillary topics that tend to blur the discussion are. for example. the question of Palestine and Israel, or the equation of the Holocaust with nurnerous other histoncal atrocities. These topics are ofien introduced at the expense of an analysis of or focus on the victims of the Holocaust. This response has concemed many survivors, but perhaps none has expressed his disrnay so publicly as Jean Arnéry. As an Auschwitz survivor and post-Holocaust philosopher, he recognized already early in the sixties the implications of linking the Holocaust to a contemporary agenda (bfind'sL hits, viii-ix). Améry consequently identifies what should be the crucial issue in any discussion regarding the Holocaust: namely, how to give testimony and how to bear witness. Likewise Primo Levi's desire to remember, conceived in terms of its future importance, is also the impetus behhd al1 of his texts. He is compelled to remember because memory has inscribed on him the details not only of Jewish victimization but also of Jewish resilience and swvival. An exclusively Holocaust culture continually fimis expression in film, Song, literature and politics. it keeps redacing in current debates over historical and contemporary events, and the vast literature of the Holocaust in German-speaking the world, Le., Kosovo, Ruwanda and East Timor- countries and in Itaiy constitutes an essential element of our history. Regardless of whether these Iiterary texts have received extensive attention or barely any at dl, they aptly offer a wide range of contrasting styles to convey the experiences of those who have lived through the most appalling genocide of the twentieth century. I began this work to determine the effects of the Holocaust on survivon, not only because I share a particular interest in Jewish history, but also because I felt a particular sympathy and curiosity for the sumivon themselves. This compelling personal interest reinforced my sense that 1 could try to undentand something of what is at stake in Holocaust testimony. 1 consequently began to examine how the victirns perceived themselves in relation to their experiences. The reason for choosing Améry and Levi as authon of the Holocaust is simple enough. Although originating from different countries and different backgrounds, they are both Iinked through their internent in Auschwitz. By observing and comparing their accounts, and through exarnining their lives and deaths, I shall attempt to reconstruct their Auschwitz experience and show how this has transformed their lives into a Iegacy on how to survive and bear witness. "Surviving the Holocaust: Jean Arnéry and Primo Levi" concentrates on these two Jewish writers who have survived. The opening chapter contains historical considerations that will attempt to account for the significance of Holocaust mernoin. It lays the groundwork for a generai understanding of Jewish life and culture in Austria and in Italy. Secondly, I will look in detail at Primo Levi, whose Holocaust related work Se qziesto è un uomo (Sumival in Awchwitz) is examined not so much for its ethical or moral implications but for the ways in which Levi was able to shape a uniquely Italian perspective on the Holocaust. Améry's theoretical work Jenseits von Schuld und Sühne (At the Mind's Limits) provides the centerpiece for chapter four. Here, 1 shall analyze not only the position of the intellectual in Auschwitz but also the entire set of pmblems Améry felt compelled to confiont during his life after the liberation: namely, the simultaneous necessity and impossibility of considering himself a Jew. The final segment will deal with both authon h m a comparative point of view, using the works discussed in the second and third chapten as reference points. 1 shall compare how the two authors deal with their Holocaust experience and discuss the similarities and differences of their memoin. A brief conclusion will complete the thesis. 2. Eistorical Considerations The terni "Holocaust" has been heard again and again throughout the past fifty yean. This is the word by which people invariably refer to cataclysmic events in Germany from 1933 to 1945. Two Hebrew words, Churban and Shoah, are cornrnonly used to designate the Holocaust. Both sipiQ catastrophic destruction. According to Une1 Tal, the term Shoah appeared among Polish Jews as early as 1940 to express their plight under Hitler (Tal. 9). Its roots cm, however, be traced al1 the way back to its Biblical origins. The Psalms, Isaiah's prophecies, and Job's lamentations al1 refer to Shouh. It has multiple meanings: sometimes it voices the specific dangers that threatened Israel from surrounding nations. and at other times it serves as a waming in cases of individual distress and desolation. Although catastrophic destruction is signified in each case, Ta1 argues "al1 Biblical meanings of the term Shoah clearly imply Divine judgment and retnbution" (Tal, 10-1 1). However, the Final Solution calls into question such Biblical meanings. In contemporary usage, Shoah unmistakably conveys the old sense of annihilation, but additionally carries a profound element of doubt and even despair where religious tradition is concemed. While Hitler's genocide was under way, the Jewish victims sensed catastrophe when it was already too late: Shoah was happening. Both terms Final Solution and Shoah are better known as the Holocaust. A contemporary dictionary will define the word 'Holocaust" as a great or total destruction by fire, and the word derives Eom the Greek holokaustos. meanhg "burnt whole" (Webster, 495). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Jewish Scripture, hofokauston serves as a substitute for the Hebrew