“WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY?” THE DEFENCE OF CIVILIZED VALUES IN EXILE, THE GHETTOS AND THE CAMPS
Abstract
This essay argues that civilized values and norms persist in hostile circumstances inimical to such norms and values. Taking the Shoah as its key example but with reference to the invasion of the Ukraine by the Russian Federation, it is shown how even in the most terrible conditions human beings cling to traditional values of truth, justice, and goodness, but also learn how to develop new norms such as the solidarity between distinct communities. Various actors are considered in context to prove this contention, notably Levi, Baeck, Ringelblum, and Kelsen. It is observed how these agents, having preserved their ideals under the most harrowing conditions, transferred them to the apres guerre, in order to effect a reconstruction of civilized society. This is also be possible in the circumstances we observe today.
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