The Rumble of a Locomotive, Traumatizing Screams, and Mortal Dance: Firsthand Poetic Testimonies Haunted by the Sounds of the Holocaust

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between Holocaust trauma and firsthand poetic testimonies through the lens of literary acoustics. Specifically, it explores the work of three Jewish poets, Stanisław Wygodzki, Ilona Karmel, and Stanisław Jerzy Lec, who wrote in Polish of their tragic experiences in the Nazi camps. The article compares these poetical works to involuntary flashbacks composed of haunting sounds that recall trauma and violence and applies the concept of thantosonics to these auditory memories. In particular, the author notes the importance of trains as not only an auditory motif, but also as the metrical underpinning of the verses, and as a point of juxtaposition against sounds of innocence in the Holocaust soundscape. Furthermore, the article also explores the imagery of folk dance as a kind of danse macabre, as well as instances of involuntary sonic identification with the perpetrators.