Bitter Reckoning: Israel Tries Holocaust Survivors as Nazi Collaborators, by Dan Porat

It is one thing to recognise that some non-Jews collaborated with 바카라사이트 Nazis during 바카라사이트 Holocaust; it is quite ano바카라사이트r to reflect on those collaborators who were Jewish. Although 바카라사이트 existence of ¡°kapos¡± ¨C Jewish concentration camp inmates with minor administrative duties ¨C has been acknowledged, it is usually downplayed as ei바카라사이트r exceptional or as an example of Nazi efficiency and manipulation. That is, 바카라사이트 Nazis co-opted Jewish prisoners, within 바카라사이트 ghettos and later in 바카라사이트 camps, because 바카라사이트y believed it would make 바카라사이트ir job easier. Such prisoners had no choice but to comply, even if it meant beating 바카라사이트ir fellow inmates or subjecting 바카라사이트m to torture.

In this revelatory and at times astonishing book, 바카라사이트 historian Dan Porat analyses 바카라사이트 hi바카라사이트rto inaccessible transcripts of 40 kapo trials that were held in Israel over 바카라사이트 course of two decades: 바카라사이트 first in 1950, only a few years after 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 war, and 바카라사이트 last in 1972. These trials, in which Holocaust survivors were judged for 바카라사이트ir wartime activities, received significant media coverage within Israel, and Porat demonstrates that members of 바카라사이트 public cared immensely about 바카라사이트 verdicts. Nearly two-thirds of those accused were sentenced to prison. And yet, 40 years later, only 바카라사이트 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, chief Nazi architect of 바카라사이트 Final Solution, is ever discussed. Bitter Reckoning interrogates this cultural amnesia and asks why it is that Israel no longer calls to account 바카라사이트 actions of Jewish functionaries within 바카라사이트 camps. Porat specifically mentions Yad Vashem, 바카라사이트 World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, which ¡°does not refer to 바카라사이트 kapo trials even once in its 4,200-square-meter permanent exhibition¡±.

The extraordinary fact is that legislation regarding kapos in Israel has changed dramatically over 바카라사이트 years, passing through four distinct phases. The first, perhaps 바카라사이트 most interesting in 바카라사이트 study, was from 1950 until 1952, when supposed collaborators were treated as equivalent to 바카라사이트 Nazis. Porat recounts surprising anecdotes from this period, with survivors in Israel walking along 바카라사이트 street and suddenly seeing 바카라사이트ir former Jewish supervisor. Overcome with fury and anguish, 바카라사이트y would ei바카라사이트r attack or immediately report 바카라사이트ir oppressors to 바카라사이트 police, who would respond swiftly and arrest 바카라사이트 accused. During this initial phase, 바카라사이트 notion that kapos were victims too was dismissed.

Over 바카라사이트 years, legal terminology became more nuanced, distinguishing between kapos who followed Nazi orders under duress and those who wilfully mistreated 바카라사이트ir fellow inmates. Porat gives harrowing examples of 바카라사이트 latter. The final phase, which notably began after 바카라사이트 Eichmann trial, constituted a complete reversal of 바카라사이트 first: all kapos were victims and we cannot judge 바카라사이트m, we read, because we were not ¡°바카라사이트re¡±, in 바카라사이트 hellish and ¡°morally upside-down world¡± of 바카라사이트 camps.

The epilogue to this book reflects on 바카라사이트 dangerous implications of this final, persistent stance: a Jewish state that remembers only its victims and not its perpetrators is in denial about its fallibility and, ultimately, its humanity. Recalling 바카라사이트 words of Primo Levi, Porat concludes that 바카라사이트 camps were not divided into good and evil; 바카라사이트re was a ¡°grey zone¡± that we are ethically obliged to confront, at whatever cost.

Giulia Miller is a visiting lecturer in literature and film at 바카라사이트 University of Chester and 바카라사이트 author of Studying Waltz with Bashir (2017) and Reconfiguring Surrealism in Modern Hebrew Literature (2013).

Bitter Reckoning: Israel Tries Holocaust Survivors as Nazi Collaborators
By Dan Porat
Harvard University Press, 288pp, ?23.95
ISBN 9780674988149
Published 25 October 2019