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Death traffic: The railway witnesses of Operation Reinhard.

Authors :
Flaws, Jacob
Source :
Journal of Transport History. Aug2024, Vol. 45 Issue 2, p217-241. 25p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Historian Raul Hilberg once observed of death trains: "It's just very regular traffic. Death traffic". Though subtle, his insinuation that this death traffic represented a "new normal" is, in fact, an astute observation of a largely unresearched process whereby Polish railway workers, and locals living near railway tracks, became witnesses to the Holocaust through observing the distinctive new "traffic" flowing by their spaces of home and work. In this case study, therefore, I examine these "death traffic witnesses" to reveal how their experiences highlight a critical reality about genocide in our modern world – its ability to transform relatively banal spaces (in peacetime) into horrific ones when employed for sinister purposes. In this case, those banal spaces are the railways that cut through our modern landscapes as symbols of connection, commerce and transport; their steel rails cutting through backyards and city centres linking even remote villages with major metropolises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00225266
Volume :
45
Issue :
2
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Journal of Transport History
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
179066527
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/00225266241254615