Document details

Holocaust Representations in Animated Documentaries: The Contours of Commemoration

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1st ed. (2024), xvii, 242 pp.

Contains bibliogr. pp. 223-238, filmography p. 239, index

ISBN 978-1-3995-2401-8 (pdf); 978-1-3995-2399-8 (hbk)

"Animated documentaries dealing with the Holocaust, Holocaust survivors, and their descendants constitute a new phenomenon and inaugurate a new field of Holocaust commemoration. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of animated Holocaust documentaries. It explores movies produced in the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Israel. Based on theories developed in the fields of animated documentary, Holocaust studies, cinema studies, trauma studies, and memory studies, this volume discusses the ways in which animated Holocaust documentaries create a new layer of Holocaust microhistory, their advantages, and their disadvantages. It shows how these movies visualize subject matter that previously eluded live-action documentaries such as the unfilmed past and people’s inner worlds. The book shows that Holocaust animated documentaries also have specific shortcomings and have generated a new set of problems relating to Holocaust memory and representation. For example, the vast majority marginalize the horrors and instead focus on bravery, resilience, and hope." (Publisher description)
Introduction, 1
PART I: "UNIMATING" THE HOLOCAUST
1 Standing up to the Nazis, 19
2 Resourcefulness, 37
3 Ghettos and Camps, 65
4 The Exceptional - Representing the Horrors, 103
PART II: THE LIFE AFTER
5 The Face of Post-Trauma, 135
PART III: SECONDARY TRAUMA, POSTMEMORY, AND WISHFUL POSTMEMORY
6 Struggling with the Parents' Memories, 171
7 The Memories Don't Let Go, 197
Conclusion, 217