Emanuel Ringelblum and Reuven Ben-Shem's War Writings Perceptions of space in the Warsaw Ghetto

by Nizan, Victoria

• ISBN13: 9781803710716
• ISBN10: 1803710713
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-01-09
• Publisher: Vallentine Mitchell

Summary

The book explores how history and politics were expressed in the war writings of Emanuel Ringelblum and Reuven Ben-Shem, inmates at the Warsaw Ghetto. Each produced different accounts in purpose and style, Ringelblum's diary was a historical record whereas Ben-Shem wanted to inform the world what had happened to his family. Despite political differences, Jewish history defined both men’ s personal identity, and they derived moral and political inspiration from it. The range of topics and how they were recorded reflects traditional approaches to appropriacy, focussing predominantly on the public sphere, leaving us to speculate the private. The book examines relationships between physical spaces in the Ghetto, and how they were conceived: how writing reflected the disruption of Jewish spaces by blurring boundaries between the private and public spheres resulting in abjection. The more Jews were crowded into the dwindling space, the more the private became public. Nizan’ s innovation is creating a model using historical records, philosophy and literature to understand the interactions between people, spaces and conditions in the Ghetto, and the effect on its inhabitants and outsiders.

Author Biography

Dr. Victoria Nizan was born in Israel in 1958. She is a former English, translation and diplomacy teacher and Model UN instructor, holds a bachelor’ s degree in French Literature and a master’ s and PhD in Jewish History, focusing on the Holocaust. She has previously published 6 articles.

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgements
A Note on Translations and Names
Introduction – A Jewified Space?
Briefing about Sources
Characterization of the Diaries
Methodological and Theoretical Considerations
Chapter Overview
PART I: HISTORY AS A JEWISH IDENTITY – THE BIRTH OF A FRENZY
I: History Defines Jewishness
Simon Dubnow: A Concept Architect
Simon Dubnow: History as a Tool and Politics as an End
Emanuel Ringelblum: A Brief Account of His Life
Ringelblum: A Researcher, Social Worker and Political Activist
Reuven Ben-Shem: A Brief Account of His Life
Ben-Shem’s Activism
Relationships: Emanuel Ringelblum and Reuven Ben-Shem
PART II: LITERATURE OF THE HOLOCAUST
II: Holocaust Diary Writing and Space
Implementation of Lebensraum in Nazi Occupied Territories
Documentation: A Jewish Response
Holocaust Literature
Diaries of the Holocaust as Personal Narratives
Interviews, Testimonies, Memoires
III: Between Historical and Personal Motivation
Why Write?
Diaries and Testimonies as Historical Sources
PART III: THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SPHERE
IV: Lebensraum – The Spatial and Demographic Formation of the Warsaw Ghetto
Marking Jewish Identity: The Armband Decree
A Jewish Sphere: The Warsaw Ghetto
The Sealed Ghetto
Expelled and Displaced: Refugees
After Deportations: Changes in Ghetto Topography
Workshops (Shops): Ghetto Factories
V: Between the Private and Public Sphere: Documentation
Ringelblum: Writing is Political but Also Personal
Politics – Ringelblum: On London Radio
Reuven Ben-Shem – Writing is Personal but Also Political
VI: Between the Private and Public Sphere: Armbands
The Body as Space
Briefing About Armbands in Both Diaries
All Jews Are Equal
Visual Shock
Feelings – About Jews and Converts
VII: The Private Sphere
Aspects of Privacy: Within the House – An Uneasy Space
The Production of Space: On Intimacy and Self-Restraint
The Outside Goes Inside
VIII: The Public Sphere
Ghetto Public Spaces: The Visual and the Truth
Point of View: Propaganda – Das Ghetto, ‘Documenting ’ Jews
The Jewish Point of View
The Inside Goes Outside
Collapse of Human Perception: The Shops
Redefining Human Concepts
Jewish Compounds: Work Area and Housing
Conclusions
Endnotes
List of Illustrations
Bibliography