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Beyond Justice: The Auschwitz Trial (review)

invested much of their energy in establishing new families, who were to shield them from a hostile environment and at the same time demonstrate Jewish resilience. Albert’s house, protected by a high fence, testifies to this view, as does his refusal to associate regularly with local businessmen. The most interesting aspect of the interviews is how differently Albert’s children have dealt with the German-Jewish predicament. Berthold, for example, claims that he witnessed no antisemitism in school, though he would never call himself German. Esther and Salek, who live in Israel, refer to anti-Jewish insults that they had to bear as children. Esther, a fierce Zionist, maintains that her siblings back in Germany are “lost,” while Salek, a body-builder whose colossal muscles would have frightened even early Zionists, rejects the “weak,” “victimized” Jews back in F. The youngest child, Gabriel, as a radio show host who likes to provoke Jews and non-Jews alike, has become the most flexible, ironic, postmodern member of the family. Each member, then, stresses certain memories (constructed or not) as evidence for current needs, proffers good reasons to stay in Germany or depart for Israel, and illustrates the diversity of Jewish identity even within individual families. Bodemann does not summarize his findings. It might have been worthwhile, by way of a conclusion, to discuss the concept of identity. Bourdieu’s idea of habitus might well explain the dichotomy often encountered in such interviews, namely the “German” characteristics of the protagonists on the one hand, and their refusal to define themselves as German on the other. Jews in Germany simply appropriate the ways of the larger environment—food, language, thought— and they do so pre-reflexively and unselfconsciously. Yet they are constantly reminded of the past and of their ties to Israel, and that the concepts “German” and “Jew” remain separate. Perhaps it is possible to move closer to a realization that one need not separate the two—that Jewishness is perhaps more cerebral and Germanness more of an everyday occurrence—and that those who require clear demarcations are fighting for what many consider an increasingly boring cause.