Remembering the barbarity to liberate or oppress

mnemonic uses and abuses of Nazi

Abstract

The Nazi genocide occupies a prominent place in the history of the twentieth century, being the paradigm of barbarity. In this condition, it also became a discursive device often used to legitimize or stigmatize ("nazificate") certain agents and causes. This work turns into history and exploits concurrent representations of Nazi atrocities, analyzing it as a symbolic capital mobilized to justify or condemn the actions of the Israeli state, which in turn seeks to assert itself as the spokesman of all the victims of the Holocaust. The article begins with a brief history of this memory, highlighting the beginning of its use and the main critics of
his discursive manipulation. Following, the focus is on a little-explored dimension of the issue: the evocations of Nazi regime to condemn the occupation and certain Israeli actions, from 1940s until today. In the end, this particular use is opposed to specialized literature on modernity, holocaust and barbarity.