End of the Holocaust

<p>In this provocative work Alvin H. Rosenfeld contends that the proliferation of books films television programs museums and public commemorations related to the Holocaust has perversely brought about a diminution of its meaning and a denigration of its memory. Investigating a wide range of events and cultural phenomena such as Ronald Reagan's 1985 visit to the German cemetery at Bitburg the distortions of Anne Frank's story and the ways in which the Holocaust has been depicted by such artists and filmmakers as Judy Chicago and Steven Spielberg Rosenfeld charts the cultural forces that have minimized the Holocaust in popular perceptions. He contrasts these with sobering representations by Holocaust witnesses such as Jean Améry Primo Levi Elie Wiesel and Imre Kertész. The book concludes with a powerful warning about the possible consequences of the end of the Holocaust in public consciousness.</p>