"Our Time Is Gone": Eschatological Motifs in Holocaust Narratives

Abstract

This article focuses on interviews conducted in various regions of Russia (Smolensk, Bryansk regions), Belarus (Vitebsk, Mogilev, Grodno regions), Ukraine (Ivano-Frankivsk regions), Latvia (Latgale), and Lithuania (Biržai) between 2009 and 2017. The article devotes vernacular forms of memory of the Second World War and the Holocaust, with a particular emphasis on the theme of non-resistance during executions. These narratives serve as a bridge between oral history and folklore, representing a unique genre of local folklorized history. Speech clichйs are associated with concepts of “fate” and eschatological ideas of the “end of times” for Jews. These narratives complement, expand and clarify the geography of existence of a number of plots. This will allow us to further work on an index of plots and motifs on this topic.