Jewish ego-documents in Holocaust studies: the use of the diary as a genre and a source

Abstract

ABSTRACT The focus of this contribution is on the intricacies of the use of the Jewish diary as a genre and a source in Holocaust Studies. We will show how from a historical point of view, the diary can be seen as a factitious – albeit highly subjective – egodocument, whereas in Literary Studies, the textual and narrative structure as well as the identity construction of the writing subject are highlighted. In order to gauge the methodological tension between these two perspectives, special attention will be paid to German-Jewish Holocaust diaries, specifically those by Victor Klemperer in Dresden and Willy Cohn in Breslau.