Research Catalog

Skratta eller gråta : humor i koncentrationsläger / Bertil Neuman.

Title: Skratta eller gråta : humor i koncentrationsläger / Bertil Neuman.
Author: Neuman, Bertil, 1921-
Publication: Stockholm : Carlsson, ©2005.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Not available - Please for assistance.	Text	Request in advance	PN6231.J5 N48 2005	Off-site

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Details

Description

175 pages : illustrations; 21 cm

Summary

In death camps like Treblinka, Majdanek, and Sobibór, as well as for many of the deportees to Auschwitz, humor became impossible. But when death was not imminent and there was room for hope for more than one person, there was also laughter. Describes organized forms of humor in Westerbork and Theresienstadt, where prominent Jewish theater and cabaret artists presented shows, balancing between the inmates' expectations and the tolerance of the camp leaders. Discusses the moral dilemma of the foremost Jewish artist, Kurt Gerron, who was put in charge of the Nazi propaganda film showing Theresienstadt as a model ghetto before being deported and killed in 1944. In Auschwitz, Viktor Frankl survived by cultivating humor as a way of communicating with other prisoners. Argues that humor in the camps, whether ironic or self-deprecating, increased the Jews' sense of self-worth and dignity. Laughter was a form of rebellion.

Subject

Genre/Form

Humor

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-173) and index.

Processing Action (note)

committed to retain

ISBN

9172036516
9789172036512

OCLC

217259265
SCSB-12113679

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library