The Memory of JudgmentLawrence Douglas

Student Edition

Chapters 1-3

Prepared by:

Dr. Kay Picart

General Aims (1)

• To formulate exploratory answers to the following questions:

1. How does the materiality of film (its emphasis on the visual, its “preference” for narrative “progression,” its “documentary” nature) affect our willingness or unwillingness to believe what we see?  (Serves as an introduction to film form vocabulary as well.)

General Aims (2)

2. What legacies have the Nuremberg trials left us?

3. What are the relations between history, literature and film, in representing the Holocaust?

Facts of the case

• What were the charges brought against the defendants?

Facts of the case

• Was the trial purely concerned with judicial ends?

• Reactions to this? Is this justifiable? Why or why not?

Question for Discussion

• How does the materiality of film (its emphasis on the visual, its “preference” for narrative “progression,” its “documentary” nature) affect our willingness or unwillingness to believe what we see? 

Key Questions

• What is the significance of the court transcript’s silence regarding the content of Nazi Concentration Camps?

• According to Douglas, four difference eye witness accounts of this part of the trial converged on one thing: what is this? Why is this important?

Guide Question:

• What formal properties, peculiar to Stevens’ Hollywood pictures, are also characteristic of Nazi Concentration Camps?

• What effect does this have?

Key Question

What legacies have the

Nuremberg trials left us?

Key Question:

• How does Nazi Concentration Camps repeatedly reinforce its claim to authenticity?

Guide Question

• Are there any tensions that result from the camera’s repeated attempts at omniscience? Give concrete examples.

Guide Question:

• Can you give any examples of the film’s attempt to “witness the act of witnessing”?

• Critique these instances carefully.

Guide Question

• How do images and sound interact in Nazi Concentration Camps?

Discussion Question

• How effective is Nazi Concentration Camps as a legal document?

• Justify your answers carefully.

Guide Question

• Has Nazi Concentration Camps been used again since the Nuremberg trials?

• What function does this film play in relation to Judgment at Nuremberg and Nuremberg?

Final Discussion Question

What are the relations

between history, literature

and film, in representing

the Holocaust?

Bibliography

• Douglas, Lawrence. The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001. Chapters 1-3.

• Photos from: “Holocaust Photos,” Shamash, The Jewish Network. Internet. Online. Downloaded August 25, 2003. Available at: http://shamash.org/holocaust/photos/index.shtml