A review by elisabeth888
Remembering Survival: Inside a Nazi Slave-Labor Camp by Christopher R. Browning

dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Browning's case study delves into the complexity of the Nazi labor camp system through compiling thousands of eyewitness testimonies and interviews. Throughout the book, Browning acknowledges the shortcomings of survivor testimony. Factors such as time, social stigmas surrounding sexual violence, and survivor's guilt contribute to a diverse range of survivor accounts. However, with distance from such trauma, survivors can sometimes actually become more forthcoming with information, allowing for a beneficial historical revision.

 

These experiences cannot be deduced to an easy, simple explanation because factors including age, race, gender, ability, sexuality, and beauty all resulted in different types of persecution for victims within the camp system. However, one common theme was that affluent and able-bodied men were more likely to survive in the camp system compared to women and children. Affluent people could bribe Nazi camp officials and able-bodied men were favored for their perceived strength.

Some may find Browning's approach to be boring because it does not present one narrative, but it is important to acknowledge that from a point of historical research one narrative would be wholly insufficient in making a broader analysis. It is only through the compilation of multiple survivor accounts in which patterns about the systemic nature of the camp system can begin to be deduced. Even nowadays there are still holes in our understanding of the Nazi labor system. For example, social stigmas prevent us from knowing how many people in the camp system were sexually assaulted. And because many of the survivors have since passed away, we may never know this reality in full.

Overall, Browning presents a thorough case study of the labor camp system which requires an attention to detail when reading. I am glad my professor assigned this book because I have learned many exceptions to the dominant narrative and the different power dynamics which existed within the labor camp system. My professor also recommends Browning's book "Ordinary Men" which discusses how seemingly normal men became perpetrators of the Holocaust. Because of Browning's compelling research and writing style, I definitely plan on reading "Ordinary Men" soon and looking into his other works.