Holocaust Consciousness and Cold War Violence in Latin America

Description

This book proposes the existence of a recognizably distinct Holocaust consciousness in Latin America since the 1970s. Community leaders, intellectuals, writers, and political activists facing state repression have seen themselves reflected in Holocaust histories and have used Holocaust terms to describe human rights atrocities in their own countries. In so doing, they have developed a unique, controversial approach to the memory of the Holocaust that is little known outside the region. Estelle Tarica deepens our understanding of Holocaust awareness in a global context by examining diverse Jewish and non-Jewish voices, focusing on Argentina, Mexico, and Guatemala. What happens, she asks, when we find the Holocaust invoked in unexpected places and in relation to other events, such as the Argentine "Dirty War" or the Mayan genocide in Guatemala? The book draws on meticulous research in two areas that have rarely been brought into contact-Holocaust Studies and Latin American Studies-and aims to illuminate the topic for readers who may be new to the fields. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: The “Latin Americanization” of the Holocaust Latin American Holocaust Consciousness— Comparative, Paradigmatic, Political Latin American Holocaust Consciousness in Global Perspective Holocaust Comparisons and the Shadow of Denialism Latin Americanism after Eichmann: Cold War Victims and Holocaust Victims Structure of the Book Chapter One: The Demands of the Times: Jewish Holocaust Discourse in Dictatorship and Early-Transition Argentina, 1976–1985 1976–1979: Sounding the Alarm Jacobo Timerman and “Anti-Semitism without Soap” The DAIA’s Response: Never Again “Jews of Silence” Progressive Jewish Voices—“Isms” beyond Judaism Marshall Meyer and Jewish Human Rights 1981–1985: The Holocaust in the Early Transitional Years Victims and Heroes Conclusion Chapter Two: Holocaust Consciousness as Critical Consciousness in Post-dictatorship Argentina, 1995–2005 Human Rights and the Holocaust in Argentina Sarlo, Shoah, and the Critique of the Testimonial “I” Vezzetti and the Problem of the Victim in Argentina Confines 1995–1998: Do Not Forget the Forgotten Conclusion Chapter Three: José Emilio Pacheco, Tununa Mercado, and Holocaust Testimony at the Mexico-Argentina Crossroads Pacheco, the Holocaust, and the Memory of 1968 Metafictional Destabilizations in Morirás lejos Pacheco on Industrial Modernity and Global Complicity in the Vietnam Era Testimony Insists: The Changes from 1967 to 1977 The Memory Imperative Post-1968 Tununa Mercado: Solidarity and the Testimonial Situation Mexico as Political Refuge 1975: Four Holocaust Testimonies The Politics of Survivor Testimonies Conclusion Chapter Four: Demetrio Cojtí Cuxil’s “Maya Holocaust”: Victims and Vanquished in Post-genocide Guatemala Victims and Vanquished in Cold War Historiography The “Maya Holocaust” under Debate The Complex Textual History of the “Maya Holocaust” The Semantics of Genocide, Holocaust, Conquest Conclusion Chapter Five: Holocaust Testimony and Maya Testimony between the U.S. and Guatemala Revisiting Stoll-Menchú: Holocaust Testimony and “Nontransparent Truths” The Shoah-FAFG Testimonies Conclusion Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index