Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues

Abstract: The paper discusses in-depth new perspectives in the Holocaust studies. It pays special attention to the spatiality of the Nazi camps and analyzes the Holocaust geographies more in general. It conceptualizes the camp as a ‘space of lawlessness’ that was created by political means of terror...

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Autor principal:	E. S. Gromoglasova
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN RU
Publicado:	MGIMO University Press 2015
Materias:	r2p holocaust genocide one-sided violence political space space of exception g. agamben legacy second world war biopolitics human security International relations JZ2-6530
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/09fa96c901484637a26c835dcaa53045
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:09fa96c901484637a26c835dcaa530452021-11-23T14:51:00ZHolocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues2071-81602541-909910.24833/2071-8160-2015-6-45-74-85https://doaj.org/article/09fa96c901484637a26c835dcaa530452015-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/450https://doaj.org/toc/2071-8160https://doaj.org/toc/2541-9099Abstract: The paper discusses in-depth new perspectives in the Holocaust studies. It pays special attention to the spatiality of the Nazi camps and analyzes the Holocaust geographies more in general. It conceptualizes the camp as a ‘space of lawlessness’ that was created by political means of terror and exclusion. The specific spatiality of the Nazi camp was constructed by perpetrators with intentions to neglect both juridical law and moral laws of humanity. To prove this point the author analyzes P. Levi, the survivor of Auschwitz, witness and his prominent books “The Drowned and the Saved” and “If This Is a Man”. After reading his witness one can conclude that two spatial characteristics of the camp have been the most fundamental. The first one were the borders that cut the camp’s inmates from the people lived in the outside world and made impossible all human relations like providing help, solidarity, empathy. The second one was ‘the grey zone’ - a spatial metaphor that P. Levi used to explain all forms of collaboration with the camp authorities. The presence of the ‘grey zone’ as a main characteristic of the Nazi camp allows us to conceptualize it as a ‘space’ where ‘the starry heavens and internal moral law’ were no more present. So, the Nazi camp is a ‘place of indistinction’, a ‘spatial threshold’ where ‘moral’ and ‘immoral’, ‘human’ and ‘animal’, ‘drowned’ and ‘saved’ were no more distinguishable. The author analyzes more broaden Holocaust geographies outside the camp. Nazis used extensively occupied territories in Eastern Europe to perpetrate their crimes. The author concludes that the geographical localization of the Holocaust was an expression of Nazi irrational genocidal intentions and spatial imaginations. Eastern territories have been constructed by Nazis as ‘broaden spaces of exception and lawlessness’. That spatial imagination and planning allowed the perpetrators to neglect juridical and moral laws in reality. The paper concludes by insisting on the importance of the Holocaust legacy for modern humanitarian action and thinking. The Holocaust legacy helps us to conceptualize more precisely ‘new spaces of lawlessness’. It provides a base for the concepts of human security and ‘global responsibility’ for saving humanity in the contemporary world.E. S. GromoglasovaMGIMO University Pressarticler2pholocaustgenocideone-sided violencepolitical spacespace of exceptiong. agambenlegacysecond world warbiopoliticshuman securityInternational relationsJZ2-6530ENRUVestnik MGIMO-Universiteta, Vol 0, Iss 6(45), Pp 74-85 (2015)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN RU
topic	r2p holocaust genocide one-sided violence political space space of exception g. agamben legacy second world war biopolitics human security International relations JZ2-6530
spellingShingle	r2p holocaust genocide one-sided violence political space space of exception g. agamben legacy second world war biopolitics human security International relations JZ2-6530 E. S. Gromoglasova Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues
description	Abstract: The paper discusses in-depth new perspectives in the Holocaust studies. It pays special attention to the spatiality of the Nazi camps and analyzes the Holocaust geographies more in general. It conceptualizes the camp as a ‘space of lawlessness’ that was created by political means of terror and exclusion. The specific spatiality of the Nazi camp was constructed by perpetrators with intentions to neglect both juridical law and moral laws of humanity. To prove this point the author analyzes P. Levi, the survivor of Auschwitz, witness and his prominent books “The Drowned and the Saved” and “If This Is a Man”. After reading his witness one can conclude that two spatial characteristics of the camp have been the most fundamental. The first one were the borders that cut the camp’s inmates from the people lived in the outside world and made impossible all human relations like providing help, solidarity, empathy. The second one was ‘the grey zone’ - a spatial metaphor that P. Levi used to explain all forms of collaboration with the camp authorities. The presence of the ‘grey zone’ as a main characteristic of the Nazi camp allows us to conceptualize it as a ‘space’ where ‘the starry heavens and internal moral law’ were no more present. So, the Nazi camp is a ‘place of indistinction’, a ‘spatial threshold’ where ‘moral’ and ‘immoral’, ‘human’ and ‘animal’, ‘drowned’ and ‘saved’ were no more distinguishable. The author analyzes more broaden Holocaust geographies outside the camp. Nazis used extensively occupied territories in Eastern Europe to perpetrate their crimes. The author concludes that the geographical localization of the Holocaust was an expression of Nazi irrational genocidal intentions and spatial imaginations. Eastern territories have been constructed by Nazis as ‘broaden spaces of exception and lawlessness’. That spatial imagination and planning allowed the perpetrators to neglect juridical and moral laws in reality. The paper concludes by insisting on the importance of the Holocaust legacy for modern humanitarian action and thinking. The Holocaust legacy helps us to conceptualize more precisely ‘new spaces of lawlessness’. It provides a base for the concepts of human security and ‘global responsibility’ for saving humanity in the contemporary world.
format	article
author	E. S. Gromoglasova
author_facet	E. S. Gromoglasova
author_sort	E. S. Gromoglasova
title	Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues
title_short	Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues
title_full	Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues
title_fullStr	Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues
title_full_unstemmed	Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues
title_sort	holocaust and its legacy in the light of the contemporary humanitarian issues
publisher	MGIMO University Press
publishDate	2015
url	https://doaj.org/article/09fa96c901484637a26c835dcaa53045
work_keys_str_mv	AT esgromoglasova holocaustanditslegacyinthelightofthecontemporaryhumanitarianissues
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Holocaust and its Legacy in the Light of the Contemporary Humanitarian Issues

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