Christopher Jackson
Holocaust and Homelands
Out of all the wars in world history WWII is possible the best documented. Though the first world war was suspected to be the first and last war on that scale. Still got a second and people are almost eagerly awaiting the third. Though WWII will likely remain the best-known war in history especially when one accounts for the Holocaust. These events have been well documented and taught too each affected nation. Though most of the sources about these events are given from an American or European perspective. The article provided by David Shneer offers the war from the Soviet Union’s perspective.
As many know Germany invaded Russia in June 1941 breaking the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Due to Nazi activity in Russia the USSR could document the event much like Europe itself. Pictures were taken and events were covered in the newspapers. The war was delivered to the public as Nazis committing atrocities against the Soviet Union not just Jews. Shneer backs this up by saying, “Ideologically and politically, the Soviet Union did not officially memorialize the Holocaust, meaning that it did not foster a particular memory of the special persecution of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies.” (Shneer, p. 30) As the German occupied areas were liberated several photos were taken adding evidence and better documentation. Due to shared Soviet trauma and the Cold War politics the Holocaust was glossed over more than in other places. The, “images used in Soviet war crimes trials, which began in 1943” (Shneer, p. 38) Most of this documentation was left in Russia until the Soviet Union collapsed years later.
A good portion of this documentation involves photographs. Shneer’s article points out that pictures are important to providing context. As stated earlier the USSR didn’t make much use of these sources. Though when these sources made their way to other nations there was penalty to choose from. Items such as the images found in newspapers and a magazine known as the Ogonek were available. It helped to point out different angles to study the Holocaust from.
