Holding on and holding out : Jewish diaries from wartime France /
Jewish diaries from wartime France
Anne Freadman.
- Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, (c)2020.
- 1 online resource (xiv, 262 pages)
Includes bibliographies and index.
Introduction -- 1. Narratives of identity -- 2. The place of the self : the diary of Raymond-Raoul Lambert -- 3. Making it last : the diary of Benjamin Schatzman -- 4. Narratives of time -- Coda : the self in history -- Appendix : Saül Castro's diary, 10 December 1941.
"Examining the diary as a particular form of expression, Holding On and Holding Out provides unique insights into the experience of Jews during World War II in France. Unlike memoirs and autobiographies that reconstruct particular personal events, diaries, by contrast, record daily events without the benefit of retrospect and describe events as they unfold. This book assess how each individual used the diary to record their daily life under persecution; each was waiting for some end, be it with hope or despair. Each individual used the diary to bear witness not only to the terror of their own lives, but also to the lives and suffering of others. Several used their writing as a memorial to people who were killed. All use their writing to assert: I live, I will have lived. The book concludes by considering each diarist as selves in history, investigating how their reflections on their experience are informed by the times in which they had lived before the advent of persecution."--
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--France--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--France--Personal narratives. Jews--Diaries--History and criticism.--France Jews--France--Biography. Jews--Social conditions--France--20th century.