The Memory of Judgment Lawrence Douglas Student Edition

1
The Memory of JudgmentLawrence DouglasStudent
Edition

• Chapters 1-3
• Prepared by
• Dr. Kay Picart

2
General Aims (1)

• To formulate exploratory answers to the following
  questions
• 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.)

3
General Aims (2)

• What legacies have the Nuremberg trials left us?
• What are the relations between history,
  literature and film, in representing the
  Holocaust?

4
Facts of the case

• What were the charges brought against the
  defendants?

5
Facts of the case

• Was the trial purely concerned with judicial
  ends?
• Reactions to this? Is this justifiable? Why or
  why not?

6
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? 

7
Key Questions

• What is the significance of the court
  transcripts 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?

8
Guide Question

• What formal properties, peculiar to Stevens
  Hollywood pictures, are also characteristic of
  Nazi Concentration Camps?
• What effect does this have?

9
Key Question

• What legacies have the
• Nuremberg trials left us?

10
Key Question

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

11
Guide Question

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

12
Guide Question

• Can you give any examples of the films attempt
  to witness the act of witnessing?
• Critique these instances carefully.

13
Guide Question

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

14
Discussion Question

• How effective is Nazi Concentration Camps as a
  legal document?
• Justify your answers carefully.

15
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?

16
Final Discussion Question

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

17
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