THE POWER OF DISCOURSE AND ANALYSIS OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK

THE POWER OF DISCOURSE AND ANALYSIS OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK By: Marzena Ilianna Wisniewski A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of English and Communication In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in English and Communication Potsdam, New York May 25, 2009 THE POWER OF DISCOURSE AND ANALYSIS OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK By Marzena Ilianna Wisniewski Has been approved for the Department of English and Communication _ [Title] Date _ [Title] Date _ [Title] Date The final copy of the above mentioned thesis has been examined by the signatories and found to meet acceptable standards for scholarly work in the discipline in both form and content PERMISSION TO COPY I grant The State University of New York College at Potsdam the non-exclusive right to use this work for the University’s own purposes and to make single copies of the work available to the public on a not-for-profit basis if copies are not otherwise available Marzena Ilianna Wisniewski 5.25.2009 Abstract The following research was prepared as a study into Holocaust survivors in Buffalo, NY and their coping abilities post World War II The research, analysis, and conclusions made from this study made it possible to have a deeper understanding of victims’ lives during and post WWII Holocaust This included what their day to day was like during WWII, what the victims did to survive, what was life like immediately after the War, and how have they been coping since By having an honest discourse on the survivors’ experiences, I was able to better understand how each subject’s story combined different types of narratives, including chaos, restitution, and quest narratives as well as their own cultural, autobiographical, and collective memories Furthermore, preserving the subjects past, the victim was able to provide future generations a history, understanding, and education of their experiences, so their trauma was not in vain The interviews were conducted, videotaped and transcribed They were also analyzed and compared to the theories of Arthur Frank, Maurice Halbwachs, Susan Feldman, Read Johnson, and Marilyn Ollayos amongst others This allowed for the subjects’ discourse to be used as a glimpse into the study of how communication preserves, educates, and heals victims After the Holocaust, many survivors were left with little or no assistance in trying to cope with what just happened to them and their loved ones The psychological damage to survivors was extreme, with few available affective studies and programs available in how to deal with that damage, including, depression, anxiety or physical stress and trauma Research has proved that the management of these ailments can be supported by utilizing various methods to manage one’s psychology By using communication as a management tool for psychological ailments, we can see how survivors cope, interact, and impact themselves, friends, and strangers The results of this research contribute to discussions of the role of communication in PTSD survivors Through conversations and writing, survivors may then attempt to heal their bouts with depression and anxiety, and at the same time preserve their autobiography The benefits of storytelling become twofold; the story teller addresses their trauma and the story teller educates, and becomes part of a process of collective memory for the passing on of these stories, and Holocaust survivor motto: “Never Again” to future generation Contents INTRODUCTION The Larger Need for This Project Why Interview 13 The Beginning 15 LITERATURE REVIEW Oral History and Collective Memory 17 Importance of Telling the Story of Trauma Creating Narrative and Memory Narrative Types 32 39 Preserving the Memory Educating Society 44 45 Listening To Stories 46 METHODS Participant Selection Interview Plan Interview Process 49 50 53 25 Coding Transcripts to Clarify Facts Interview Results 55 57 Survivor Summaries Joe Poslinski 59 Max and Rose Pohl Steven Szymura Stanley Blake Dr Phillip 60 62 64 65 Wartime Experiences Invasion/Early Occupation Life in the Ghetto 66 72 Imprisonment / Concentration Camp / Ghetto Communication 77 Life in the Camps 78 Malnourishment & Starvation Degradation / Humiliation Death 83 84 Crematorium 86 Survival Resourcefulness 88 Faith, Hope, and Luck Liberation and Post War Immigration 89 91 93 Psychological and Health Issues Thoughts about the Future 99 DISCUSSION 95 82 75 Tell and Witness 102 Memory 110 Cultural 110 Autobiographical 110 CONCLUSION Moving Forward Works Cited 112 116 Works Consulted 118 Appendix A 120 INTRODUCTION The Larger Need For This Project The year 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the end to World War II, the Holocaust, and the liberation of Auschwitz This does not mean that Holocausts saw their final end As recently as the first decade of the Millennia, Holocausts and Genocide have been happening around the world, from Darfur to Rwanda, Bosnia, and Cambodia Six decades after World War II, genocide haunts our global community Yet, today fewer and fewer survivors of World War II are able to give first person accounts of the horror they experienced during the Holocaust of WWII Part of this project’s goal is to hope to preserve history in the form of survivors’ testimonies Truly, this may be our only chance to so In the past, survivors' testimonies have deepened the study of the Holocaust immensely When participants tell their own stories, they can animate history as no one else can Survivors have written memoirs, or described their experiences to students, filmmakers, and archivists This is one reason the subject has captured the public imagination across the world The stories presented here chronicle the survivors’ experiences during the days of early occupation, in the Ghetto, and in concentration camps All of these stories have one thing in common: Nazi mistreatment Most of the survivors were practically living corpses when the Allies liberated them We learn about all of this in history classes and through books like The Diary of Anne Frank, or movies such as Schindler’s List, or the Pianist But we rarely hear or learn about the psychological effects World War II had on its survivors It should come as no surprise that many survivors suffered from depression or became mentally unstable during and after the war My research records these psychological effects as well as physical ones and seeks to learn how communication changed and helped heal the wounds of survivors For the many that are fortunate enough to have survived the worst of times, another type of trauma would haunt their everyday life in the form of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) These people have the greatest need to tell their personal stories Arthur Frank calls them “narrative wrecks”: this phrase is a metaphor for a survivor being like a “shipwreck” that gets repaired in time through story telling Today, many survivors are nearly ninety years old, some are older, and many are quickly passing away Their stories offer firsthand knowledge into a very dark period in human history They hold on to information that is very unique and rare, as they are the remaining Holocaust survivors living with PTSD Because of such great time restraints, we have a very limited amount of time to record information relating to both their mental and physical being If the research is not done immediately, then in twenty years, these primary sources will not be available as a source of first hand discussion of atrocities that happened during this time period Future generations need to be informed about what occurred during the Holocaust and they need to be aware of the genocide, torture, losses, and what people gained and lost from their personal struggles People should also know how survivors felt, how they suffered, and how they currently feel today By recording and listening to survivor testimonies we can hope to prevent future Holocaust and Genocide atrocities from being repeated Further benefits to society and survivors may include: to sustain a survivors memory, which is crucial to identity; to get perspectives on the value of life; to help survivors connect with life and society; to become better individuals, interviewers, and recorders of history through practice, patience, and understanding Many believe that since the Holocaust occurred during WWII and affected only older generations, there are no longer similar situations in today’s world But in this case, many may be wrong The Holocaust is a term used specifically for the extermination of the Jewish people in Nazi-controlled Europe, and is similar to Genocide, which is analogous in meaning, except that it covers all other groups of people In 1994, war and Genocide ravaged Rwanda Neighbors were slaughtering neighbors, and families were hiding in basements and attics in order to somehow survive the war together Just a few years earlier between 1992 and 1995, similar events were being broadcast on international television from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or what is now present day Bosnia and Herzegovina There, people were forced to leave their homes, placed in concentration camps, and exposed to modern day genocide “The number of identified victims is currently at 97,207, and the recent research estimates the total number to be less than 110,000 killed (civilians and military), and 1.8 million displaced” (“Bosnia”) It is these types of atrocities and hatred that Holocaust survivors are attempting to prevent from happening again through storytelling and sharing of their knowledge The miraculous personal stories of the rescuers, the victims, and the survivors should be carried with us and passed on to our descendants in order to build awareness of how terrible the Holocaust was, and how costly wars and Genocides are For many people, it may be difficult to empathize with these intriguing stories Some may feel they are dream-like situations, and many times it may be difficult to put oneself in someone else’s traumatic situation Questioning Holocaust survivors directly is a difficult task, because there is more emotion involved than most realize In one sense, it is truly impossible to understand the pain that dwells inside of them Being an empathetic listener is not for everyone, because some people not want to deal with being emotionally disturbed; it may be too overwhelming At the beginning of a project, one can seldom predict the conclusion, nor foresee the effort required Undertaking such a project requires perseverance, even a sense of mission Most Holocaust survivors had faith and an incredible will to survive It was my faith and 10 controlled and least noticeable Dr Phillip is well organized in his thoughts and discussions, and shows almost no chaos in his story telling Joe is also able to recollect details and maintain a cohesive and logical time frame of events before, during, and after the holocaust Although he sometimes cannot remember all the details, and can get frustrated, he is able to maintain a sense or order in his story line A group photo of a very frail Joe in Mathausen is on displayed at the HMM He also has a personal autobiography about his experiences stored at the Museum’s library Max and Rose, on the other hand, are prime candidates for fitting into the chaos narrative category Max falls into tears every time he recollects his past, while Rose is shaky, and takes medication for anxiety, and depression They both have a difficult time discussing their life, and their time line continuity jumps between each sentence and every event This therefore makes the stories difficult to follow At the same time, Max and Rose have so much to say about their experiences that they make it very easy to become captivated as a listener and empathize with the difficult life they lived through Stanley’s story also fits into a chaos narrative His discussion is unlike Max and Rose’s, and was very difficult to understand and comprehend because Stanley was chaotic and had a difficult time finishing one subject before jumping to another His answers would jump from the past to the present, from Nazi era to present day politics, from SS to the Red Cross all in the same sentence His attention span combined with his frustrations and his personal views made him very difficult to comprehend Chaos narratives make comprehension of a story a complicating task Once my interviewees added an accent, a mish mash of part polish language, part multilingual slang, along with a bit of minor senility, I became not only an interpreter, but also a 108 decipherer Although weaving through chaos is very challenging, it is also very rewarding to understand the full extent of the story The final narrative Frank discusses is quest narrative Frank defines quest narrative as: “what is quested for many may never be wholly clear, but the quest is defined by the ill [traumatized] person’s belief that something is to be gained through the experience” (121) Holocaust survivors not want the Holocaust to occur again Therefore, their quest may be to tell their stories in order for the Holocaust to never repeat itself They want to everything in their own will to diminish hatred Through this narrative, victims express a feeling that something may come of being vocal, whether it is storytelling, writing, or speaking, they are confident their stories may be of influence for positive change In May 2005, I attended an event at the Jewish center in Buffalo, N.Y Here, I watched Rose and Max Pohl talk about their experiences to a journalist from one of the local news stations Their message gathered mass public support as they brought their story to post war generations in hopes of creating a need for understanding what they went through, and why it is important that the community stand united against future acts of Genocide and a repetition of a Holocaust According to Frank, “society is suppressing a truth about suffering, and that truth must be told” (121) Quest narratives can be told through multimedia, testimonies, museums, journalists, and interviewers who are willing to document records of their interview Quest narrative can be represented in the effort to document one’s story From various sources, it is evident that writing has changed people’s views in attempt to bring healing Writing one’s story can be a kind of quest for healing the storyteller and listener out of trauma Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos write that “clinicians have 109 discovered the power of reading and writing poetry and literature to help patients express their feelings, learn about themselves through the experience of others, and gain confidence and self esteem by becoming authors of meaningful writings” (369) All of the survivors use quest in their storytelling as a way to leave a part of their history behind They also hope that their experiences will not go in vain, and will be remembered in the choices that future generations take Joes narrative has been published as an autobiography and is housed at the HMM He also is in a group photograph in a brochure from Mathausen Concentration camp, and on display at the HMM Max and Rose’s quest narrative is achieved by speaking and lecturing on their experiences to schools, and universities for all post war generations to hear and witness Their stories are also published in several different places including the HMM Stanley Blake’s quest narrative involves going to local Veterans hospitals and being involved with group therapy of all wars including WWII, Vietnam, and Korea He is in a special position as a Holocaust survivor, and a Korean War Vet to be able to share different perspectives on wars with all nationalities, religions, and races Stanley shares his experiences with others at several different organizations which he is a member or volunteer There he gets to socialize with other wartime survivors who he relates to, and exchange personal accounts and experiences Here he also can meet with invited youth for camaraderie and educational story telling Dr Phillip is the only survivor I interviewed whose narrative is without quest Except for this interview he does little to have his story heard or shared by others His 110 silence is due to his fear that sharing his stories will bring about too many bad memories Memory - Cultural MemoryJan Assman defines cultural memory as the "outer dimension of human memory", embracing two different concepts: "memory culture" (Erinnerungskultur) and "reference to the past" (Vergangenheitsbezug) Memory culture is the way a society ensures cultural continuity by preserving, with the help of cultural mnemonics, its collective knowledge from one generation to the next, rendering it possible for later generations to reconstruct their cultural identity (Assman) For all my interviewees; it was important to sustain cultural memory by creating and maintaining stories through institutions, monuments, multimedia, and any other way possible By doing so, survivors provide insight into their own cultural memories and also provide a factual record of their own experiences By being a member of their audience, listeners are able to learn and tell others of the stories they heard, therefore spreading cultural memory Furthermore, advancements in technology, including multimedia, are guaranteeing that their memories which include stories, recordings, video, and photos will be preserved as a first hand story, and available to be studied and viewed globally for many generations to come - Autobiographical Memory Another type of memory is autobiographical, which is a memory that is rooted in the survivor’s lives and is told throughout time This type of memory tends to 111 become diluted through time as details are forgotten or embellished For this reason it is important to document, file, and store stories that hold historical value, we can then be more certain of first hand facts and accurate accounts 112 CONCLUSION Moving Forward Every survivor has an extravagant story to tell, like a great adventure movie, with each future scene trumping the last, turning all human senses, and emotions onto “overload.” The stories not stop; the survivors not want to stop explaining, and the audience does not want to stop listening These miraculous personal stories of rescues, victims, and survivors must always be carried with us, and passed on to our descendants, to continue the stories of the Holocaust People should not forget, as carelessness will allow such a tragedy to happen again We cannot bring back those who suffered and perished, but we should at least honor their memory by resolving never to allow tragedies like this to be repeated again In an attempt to better understand Holocaust survivors, I wanted to dive into their world But after the interviews, I realized that my efforts would be in vain, and that I would never truly understand the terror, the struggles, and the horrors The results I had gathered from the interviews made me realize that what affected survivors years ago is still in them today and they have a special contribution to offer the world; they are the stories of survival, struggle, love, and the desire to live, there are also stories of hating of individuals and entire groups of people, of weakness in society, and how terribly humans will treat other humans They provided me knowledge that helped me to become a better person, and someone who wants to prevent hatred from occurring in the future Hearing the stories, I came to believe that people are inherently good, and that situations make them bad, that we should not take our freedoms for granted, and that we should embrace them and fight against those who attempt to subdue it 113 Listening to survivors’ stories changed, molded, shaped and influenced the person I am today and will affect me for the rest of my life In addition, I was able to develop my own cultural memory, and understand my own upbringing as part of my ancestry that spoke to me and which included survivors of German war time occupation It is with great respect and appreciation that I am grateful to all the interviewees of this project who helped shape who I am today, and define my relationship with the people of my culture Furthermore, this experience allowed me to develop a fuller comprehension, an emotional connection, and comfort in understanding the Holocaust better It is because of these interviews that I can now say I understand survivors better, I can relate and empathize, and I don’t have to be afraid of my expectations as I am better prepared for their non-verbal reactions Overall, I feel very blessed for the opportunity to interview Holocaust survivors who have overcome extreme hardships and were able to dedicate their time to offer me their stories They provided me wealth to pass on as part of my own reconstructed memory, and I am able to mine the treasure of the people I know, because they helped me understand who I am, and where I come from Now I can pass a gift of personal knowledge forward that was offered to me and one that changed me for the rest of my life After listening to these stories, everything I once took for granted overcame me Everything that I previously complained about, I now learned to appreciate Rose and Max made me think about my family Joe and Dr Phillip made me think about my health; Stanley made me think about responsibility Steven helped me appreciate what a great country I live in, a country of comfort that we take for granted Dr Phillip’s story made me jump in my chair and brought tears to my eyes From the 114 beginning of the interview, I thought he had simply lost his hearing from old age Once I found out he was maimed by the SS, I was shocked and left feeling numb There is an old saying that “History repeats itself.” It is obvious from the atrocities that happen on live television in countries such as Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, and many other global regions, that the lessons of the Holocaust have not been learned, and repeat themselves in genocides and war across our “civilized” planet Historical knowledge and remembrance is limited and watered down by our educational systems, governments, forward thinking cultures, and just plain lack of interest by modern generations In the United States, people not have enough knowledge, or time to listen to stories and become proactive against tragic global events like genocides, the Holocaust, and war tragedies that effected families, ancestors, and the human race Today’s society doesn’t want to hear about a historical event such as genocide, or the Holocaust, and it doesn’t want to deal with the emotions involved We think our information is sufficient based on reading a paragraph in high school that mentioned the Holocaust, visiting a Holocaust Museum, reading a few testimonies, or looked at a display of some shoes, and suitcases belonging to survivors that were left behind in concentration camps However, if we don’t listen to stories that continue to affect the world, then who are we as a society? How can we make changes if we are not aware of histories lessons? Our voices are powerful enough to make changes in our society, but without knowledge, and education from the voices of our past, we cannot make informative decisions moving forward in our future It is my belief that, as scholars, we must educate ourselves about the hazards of hatred, in order to battle and prevent a corrupted future By educating and keeping an open mind, we can fight discrimination, and violence, and proactively work towards 115 peace and nonviolence With the opportunities we have in the United States, our generation should actively participate in programs aimed toward battling racism, discrimination and other negative forces which can lead to hate and violence We should provide the necessary platform for gatherings, conferences, and discussions about these subjects Together, students and the academia can celebrate global diversity, peace in a diverse society, culture, and recognition of human rights 116 Works Cited Assman, Jan Cultural Memory n.d Blake, Stanley Interview Feb 14, 2005 “Bosnia.” Wikipedia March 05, 2009 Brannon, Lil and C.H Knoblauch Rhetorical Traditions & the Teaching of Writing Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook P, 1984 DeVito, Joseph Human Communication: The Basic Course New York: Harper and Row, 1988 Erikson, Kai Notes on Trauma and Community Trauma: Explorations of Memory Baltimore and London: John Hopkins UP, 1995 Feichtinger, Johannes “Aspects on Collective Memory: Maurice Halbwachs” Dubrovnik: IUC Lecture May 2002 Feldman, David Read and Marilyn Ollayos “The Use of Writing in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Disorders.” The Handbook of Post-Traumatic Disorders Princeton: Greenwood P, 1994 366-385 Frank, Arthur W The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995 Frank, Arthur W “Illness and Narrative.” Ritsumeikan University, Symposium Japan Sept 4, 2005 Halbwachs, Maurice Aspects on Collective Memory Trans.and ed.Lewis A Coser Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1992 117 Kearl, Michael C “An Investigation into Historical Knowledge and Implications of its Ignorance.” Texas Journal n.d.: 4-12 Knapp Mark and Judith Hall Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction 6th ed Belmont: Wadsworth, 2005 Langer, L Lawrence Admitting the Holocaust: Collected Essays New York: Oxford UP, 1995 Myerhoff, Barbara Number Our Days Toronto and Vancouver: Clarke, Irwin & Company, 1978 Novick, Peter The Holocaust in American Life Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999 Dr Phillip, M.D Personal Interview Feb 14, 2005 Pohl, Max and Rose, Pohl Personal Interview April 18, 2005 Poslinski, Joe Personal Interview Feb 11, 2005 Szymura, Steven Personal Interview Feb 13, 2005 118 Works Consulted Bandler, Kenneth Statement on Poland and the Auschwitz Commemoration January 30, 2005 Bartov, Omer Mirrors of Destruction: War, Genocide, and Modern Identity Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000 Bauman, Zygmunt Modernity and the Holocaust: Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1989 Brown, Aaron Playing in the Auschwitz Cabaret February 1, 2005 Caruth, Cathy Trauma: Explorations in Memory: Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins UP, 1995 Finkelstein, G Norman The Holocaust Industry London: Verso, 2000 Hall, Edward The Silent Language: Garden City: Doubleday, 1959 Hass, Aaron The Aftermath Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995 Kraft, N Robert Memory Perceived Westport: Praeger P, 2002 Margalit, Avishai The Ethics of Memory Cambridge: U of Harvard UP, 2002 May, Tim Qualitative Research in Action London: Sage P, 2002 McNally, Richard J Remembering Trauma Cambridge: Belknap P of Harvard UP, 2003 Rosenfeld, H Alvin Thinking about the Holocaust Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1997 119 Sicher, Efraim Breaking Crystal: ‘Writing and Memory after Auschwitz Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1998 Vogel, Michael “Non-Jews Who Survived Nazi Camps Will Gather.” The Buffalo News August 1998 Waiter, S Edward “Christian Holocaust Mass Reflects on Loss of Innocents, Then and Now.” Ampol Eagle 15 August 2001 Williams, Linda Meyer and Victoria L Banyard Trauma & Memory Thousand Oaks: Sage P, 1999 Zimmerman, D Joshua Contested Memories: New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2003 120 Appendix A 121 122 ... as part of understanding and remembering events In order to have a deeper understanding of the realities of the Holocaust, I felt the need to hear about the lives of these people firsthand This... texts, and event commemorating the victims Interviewing Holocaust survivors was one way to bring back awareness of the Holocaust through 24 listening, videotaping, and transcribing interviews and. .. locking their emotions within In the book, The Use of Writing in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Disorders, Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos write an article titled, ? ?The Use of Writing in the Treatment