The Holocaust and its Contexts Series Editors: Olaf Jensen, University of Leicester, UK and Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann, Loughborough University, UK. Series Editorial Board: Wolfgang Benz, Robert G. Moeller and Mirjam Wenzel More than sixty years on, the Holocaust remains a subject of intense debate with ever-widening ramifications. This series aims to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the Holocaust and related issues in contemporary society, politics and culture; studying the Holocaust and its history broadens our understanding not only of the events themselves but also of their present-day significance. The series acknowledges and responds to the continuing gaps in our knowledge about the events that constituted the Holocaust, the various forms in which the Holocaust has been remembered, interpreted and discussed, and the increasing importance of the Holocaust today to many individuals and communities. Titles include: Nicholas Chare and Dominic Williams (editors) REPRESENTING AUSCHWITZ At the Margins of Testimony Johannes Heuman THE HOLOCAUST AND FRENCH HISTORICAL CULTURE, 1945 65 Antero Holmila REPORTING THE HOLOCAUST IN THE BRITISH, SWEDISH AND FINNISH PRESS, 1945 50 Olaf Jensen and Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann (editors) ORDINARY PEOPLE AS MASS MURDERERS Perpetrators in Comparative Perspectives Karolin Machtans and Martin A. Ruehl (editors) HITLER FILMS FROM GERMANY History, Cinema and Politics since 1945 Simo Muir and Hana Worthen (editors) FINLAND S HOLOCAUST Silences of History Henning Pieper FEGELEIN S HORSEMEN AND GENOCIDAL WARFARE The SS Cavalry Brigade in the Soviet Union Diana I. Popescu and Tanja Schult (editors) REVISITING HOLOCAUST REPRESENTATION IN THE POST-WITNESSING ERA Tanja Schult A HERO S MANY FACES Raoul Wallenberg in Contemporary Monuments Caroline Sharples and Olaf Jensen (editors) BRITAIN AND THE HOLOCAUST
Chris Szejnmann and Maiken Umbach (editors) HEIMAT, REGION, AND EMPIRE Spatial Identities under National Socialism The Holocaust and Its Contexts Series Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0- 230-22386- 8 Hardback 978-0- 230-22387- 5 Paperback (outside North America only ) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
The Holocaust and French Historical Culture, 1945 65 Johannes Heuman Uppsala University, Sweden
Johannes Heuman 2015 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-57586-2 ISBN 978-1-137-52933-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137529336 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements vi vii 1 Introduction 1 2 French Jewish Relations and Historical Culture 22 3 Nationalisation and Isolation 43 4 Europeanisation and Historicisation 70 5 Universalisation and Global Remembrance 100 6 The Holocaust Enters French Historical Culture 128 7 Concluding Discussion 156 Notes 171 Bibliography 196 Index 207 v
List of Illustrations Photographs Photographs 5.1a and 5.1b A model of the planned Mémorial by the architects Georges Goldberg and Alexandre Persitz (left). The drawing of the planned crypt (right) shows where the ashes of the victims are to be kept, together with an eternal flame. L Architecture d Aujourd hui, no. 55 (Sept. 1954): 21 and 23. 104 5 Photograph 5.2 The ceremony to lay the cornerstone in May 1953, which marked the beginning of the construction of the Tombeau du Martyr Juif Inconnu. Centre de documentation du Mémorial de la Shoah. 109 Table Table 6.1 Private Commemorations at Mémorial, October and November 1960 144 vi
Acknowledgements This book is a revised version of my doctoral thesis at Stockholm University, which would not have been possible without the generous help of friends and colleagues in Sweden and abroad. My greatest debt of thanks is to my supervisors Pär Frohnert and Leif Runefelt. It has been a great privilege to work both Pär and Leif, who have not only generously commented upon my work but also helped shape me as a researcher. The good atmosphere at the Department of History at Stockholm University has furthermore made my research easier in many ways. Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to all my colleagues at the department. My special thanks, within the Nordic academic community, go to Klas-Göran Karlsson, Mattias Tydén, Orsi Husz, Claudia Lenz, Karin Lützen, Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke, Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist, Aryo Makko, Olof Bortz, and Nevra Biltekin. As a postgraduate research student, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Institut d histoire du temps présent (IHPT-CNRS) in Paris, thanks to Henry Rousso and the then president Christian Ingrao. I spent a year at the institute, with generous access to an office, the library, a very welcoming body of colleagues, and the opportunity to present my research at its seminars. In Paris I am also grateful to Johanna Linsler, Newman Lao, Simon Perego, Anne Grynberg, and the staff of the Centre de documentation du Mémorial de la Shoah (CDJC). In addition to this, I was fortunate enough to spend five months at the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton. It was a great privilege to work at this dynamic interdisciplinary and international research centre, and I would like to thank Joachim Schlör and in particular Tony Kushner for his friendly guidance and important comments on my research during these months. I have also benefitted from the generosity and helpful comments of Maria Grever, director of the Center for Historical Culture at Erasmus University Rotterdam, during a visit to Stockholm. My research abroad in Paris, Southampton, and elsewhere was funded by generous grants from STINT (the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation, and vii
viii Acknowledgements the Department of History at Stockholm University. The permission to use material published in the journals Holocaust and Genocide Studies and History and Memory is gratefully acknowledged. Charlotte Merton has given me great guidance on my English writing that I will carry with me into future projects and I am also grateful to Nathalie Tafelmacher and Jonathan Tedenbring in this regard. Turning my research into a book has been an exciting process and I am very pleased with the generous support from Linda Auld, Angharad Bishop and Emily Russell at Palgrave Macmillan, the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript, as well as the editors of the Holocaust and its Context series, Olaf Jensen and Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann. My girlfriend Tove Rauscher, in addition to ensuring our lives run smoothly in every possible way, has also commented on my manuscript and has improved its argument. And, finally, I would like to thank Mum, Dad, my sisters, and my friends. Karin and Inge, my parents in Lund, have not only been the constant in my life, but have always encouraged me in my chosen paths, whether broad or narrow. Without them, this research would have been inconceivable. viii