Testimonies of Trauma: Surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau

This chapter examines some of the distinctions faced by victims of the Nazi regime in regard to their gender, as men’s and women’s testimonies have many aspects in common, but also some significant differences. The distinctions in their memories are of much interest because they illustrate subjectivities of trauma. Furthermore, the experiences faced by survivors of Auschwitz had a great impact on their own subsequent lives and on how they chose to relate their narratives and histories. This is very noteworthy in terms of the development of the historiography - whose traumatic experiences gain attention and why, and whose have been ignored? Women's Holocaust histories and narratives have not been examined until comparatively recently. No longer are women’s voices unheard and there is now a substantial literature on women’s writing and the Holocaust. This is an area of research that is constantly growing. The diversity of experiences faced by Holocaust victims requires greater scrutiny. Furthermore, particular aspects of Holocaust experience that have been difficult or taboo subjects have also been neglected in the historical writing on the Holocaust. However, such angles are important to our knowledge of the Holocaust as a whole because they give us a breadth of comprehension of and a greater insight into the diversity of victims’ experiences.