Narrating the Holocaust

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Few Holocaust survivors attach any meaning to camp life itself. Yet, most agree that the difficulties of coping with the misery and its lingering memories were eased if some purpose - whether in the form of physical or psychological resistance or of hope for a future life, reunited with their loved ones - could be found. Many survivors turned to writing about their experiences.Reiter shows how survivors who were professional authors adapted certain literary genres, while non-professional writers-the vast majority-related their experiences in report form. A comparison between these memoirs and the more frequently discussed camp novels identifies the different narrative strategies.