Analysis of Two Texts on the Holocaust - Paper Example

The World Must Not Forget is an article by Harold Denny that appeared on the May 6 1945 edition of the New York Times. Maus is an explicit novel by Art Spiegelman that holds the distinction of being a comic book narrating about the Holocaust. The two texts are something in common in that they are about events related to the holocaust that took place during the Second World War. This essay looks at how the texts narrate about the topic with the use of eccentricities of their own individual mediums. It will also analyze how several aspects of the Holocaust are constructed between these different mediums.

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In his article, Denny utilizes intense imagery together with descriptive analysis to come up with a jolting portrayal of two Nazi concentration camps-Thekia and Buchenwald- while they were being liberated. According to him, the world had to be informed of the gruesome details of what actually happened during the Holocaust, and should never forget. He insists that it is unlikely the people of Germany did not know what was happening in these camps located just a short distance from their homes. The proof was staring at them in the face for a long time. The issue of dealing with seemingly morally sick people appear in the article. Most people believe that Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, was a moral criminal. This term describes individual who does not recognize anyones rights apart from their own, reacts badly at the slightest pretext, at the earliest indicator of danger or advantage to themselves. There is no doubt that reacted badly to at the first indicator of advantage he had over the citizens of Germany, thus confirming him as a moral criminal.

The above point raises the question of whether the people of Germany were also moral criminals. Some scholars are of the opinion that the Germans were merely victims of Hitlers twisted ideology, Nazi propaganda, and economy that was on the blink of collapse. However, Denny is not of the opinion that the German population had nothing to do with propaganda. According to him, they share Hitlers guilt although they go to great lengths to deny it. The Holocaust was all about the extermination of races that Hitler perceived as inferior together with the debilitation of Germanys neighboring people. The genocide was the final chapter of the herrenvolk myth, something that German citizens gladly accepted. Hence, since the German community accepted Hitlers moral immoral crimes, then they too can be considered as moral criminals. Mass genocide would not have taken place without Germanys go-ahead.

All in all, it is possible to make another argument whereby emergency ethics is used as a way of defending the German population. In the simplest of terms, a supreme emergency occurs when the deepest values and collective survival of a group of people are in immediate danger. This was what was happening during Germanys economic crisis before Hitler came to power. If Germanys state of emergency did not occur, the people would not have reached out to Hitler who, at the time, was in possession of the only sliver of hope left for the country. Denny also mentions the point of justice after war; which may be the main point of The World Must Not Forget. According to him, for justice to be served for the Holocaust, the kind of barbarism introduced by Hitler must be completely removed from the people of Germany. However, this is likely to be uphill task and a process likely to last for generations. The only way to implement justice after the war is by recognizing moral criminals and not forgetting the events of that horrific time.

In Maus, Art Spiegelman uses a unique and eccentric medium in the form of animation. The narrative is in the form of a comic book with overly comical and cartoonish artwork. Also, the various nationalities and races in the story are depicted as different types of animals. For instance, Germans are portrayed as cats while Jews are depicted as mice. Maus is made up of two main narratives that are equally important. One is directed by Vlad Spiegelman, who is father to Art and who narrates what he went through during the Holocaust to his in the form of several interviews. This narrative starts in Poland before the war and covers his life over a period of about ten years. It looks at when he married Anja in 1937, the experiences he went through while in the Auschwitz concentration camp, up until when immigrated to Sweden after the end of the war. The other narrative is all about the conflicted and complex relationship that Art has with his father from 1978 up to 1982. It was during this time that he conducts interviews with his father about his experiences during the genocide.

In addition to the two main narratives, Maus has a couple of minor ones that make very brief appearances within the novel. One is a short comic originally published by Art in 1972 that discusses his mothers suicide that took place in 1968. This segment was eventually retrieved by his father who reprinted it in full in the midst of Maus first volume. The other minor narrative is found at the start of the second chapter of the novels 2nd installment, and occurs in 1987 just after the first edition was published. This narrative is self-reflective and deeply personal as it reveals Arts conflicting emotions about his father and the novels subsequent publication.

Despite the fact that it is a comic book, Maus complexity and impact are much greater when compared to other works of a similar medium. The narrative looks at the nature of guilt while at the same time serving as a reflection on the impact of a major historical event. It explores how the Holocaust affected the lives of those that were born after it had already taken place. The novel almost defies description given its structure, complex themes as well as the unconventional medium of a graphic book. It is a mixture of autobiography, history, and fiction. In a number of ways, it is a novel that defies genre and ends up becoming something quite unique. It is an excellent and lasting narrative that is set to become a timeless classic.

There are several aspects of the Holocaust explored in the two texts, one of them being survival. In The World Must Not Forget, Denny offers various explanations as to why Adolf Hitler and the Nazis orchestrated the Holocaust, and the reason the German people could be accused of collaborating with them. According to him, the native pure-blood Germans were just trying to survive in an increasingly harsh and competitive economic environment. At the time when Hitler was taking power, Germanys economy was in a pathetic state. This condition resulted in struggles to access means of earning a living such as employment opportunities and businesses. During that time in Germany and most parts of Europe, a significant segment of all profitable businesses were run by Jews. Bearing this in mind, the Nazis felt that this race was having an unfair advantage over the authentic German people when it came to accessing economic resources. It is this perception that brought about the idea that all Jews had to be eliminated from Germany, thus triggering the Holocaust. Hitler and his conspirators thought that by doing away with Jews and other non-Germans, they could ensure the survival of the native Germans.

In Maus, it can be seen that survival was the main motivation for the Jews. The experiences that Vladek went through during the Holocaust depict a relentless struggle to survive. Notable incidences include his factory and source of income being taken away, the Jews being sent to ghettos, and the eventual horrors that occurred within Auschwitz concentration camp. As the struggle for survival intensifies, the lengths to which Jews go to ensure this happens start to break the seemingly strong ties of friendship, family and the Jewish identity. For instance, when Vladek comes home after being held in a war camp, he is assisted by an old business associate called Mr. Ilzecki to get a job and possess the right work documents. However, as the situation continues to worsen, Vladek together with family members and friends have to resort to rather extreme measures just to survive. Thus, the connection of Jewish identity starts showing cracks under the desperate measures of survival. A notable example is the Jews that were members of the Jewish Police Force, like those that went to Vladeks house take his wifes grandparents to a concentration camp. They thought they could save themselves by assisting the Nazis.

It is not long before family bonds begin disintegrating as the Holocaust as depicted in Maus escalates. For instance, Haskel, who is Vladeks cousin, declines to save them from being transported to Auschwitz unless they parted with a certain amount of money. Although he ultimately assists Vladek and his wife escape, he does not do anything for Anjas parents, something that makes them be sent to concentration camps. All in all, the bond between Vladek and his wife remain unwavered throughout most of the narrative. For instance, they go into hiding together in the backrooms and barns Sosnowiec, although they are eventually captured and held at adjacent concentration camps. Despite both of them being rather engrossed with their own survival while in these camps, Vladek still manages to assist his wife by providing her with emotional support and additional food.

The different mediums used in the two texts to depict the horrors of the Holocaust go a long way in shaping the readers thoughts and emotions. As a narrative of the event in comic form, Maus by Art Spiegelman seems to accomplish the impossible. With its rather simplistic framework, it highlights the horrifying reality of the systematic killing of millions of people by the Nazis during the Second World War. The author takes advantage of the comic form to unsettle the reader. He plays with panel arrangements and frames as well as with the animal motifs to disconcert the readers expectations.