Asingleword--Auschwitz--isoftenusedtoencapsulatethetotalityofpersecutionandsufferinginvolvedinwhatwecalltheHolocaust.Yetafocusonasingleconcentrationcamp--howeverhorrificwhathappenedthere,howevermassivelycatastrophicitsscale--leavesanincompletestory,atruncatedhistory.Itcannotfullycommunicatethemyriadwaysinwhichindividualsbecametangleduponthesideoftheperpetrators,andobscuresthediversityofexperiencesamongawiderangeofvictimsastheystruggledanddied,ormanaged,againstallodds,tosurvive.Intheprocess,wealsomissthecontinuinglegacyofNazipersecutionacrossgenerations,andacrosscontinents.MaryFulbrook’sencompassingbookattemptstoexpandourunderstanding,exploringthelivesofindividualsacrossafullspectrumofsufferingandguilt,eachonecapturingonesmallpartofthegreaterstory.Atitsheart,Reckoningsseekstoexposethedisjuncturebetweenofficialmythsabout“dealingwiththepast,“ontheonehand,andtheextenttowhichthevastmajorityofNaziperpetratorsevadedjustice,ontheother.InthesuccessorstatestotheThirdReich-EastGermany,WestGermany,andAustria--theattemptsatjusticevariedwidelyintheyearsanddecadesafter1945.TheCommunistEastGermanstatepursuedNazicriminalsandhandeddownseveresentences;WestGermany,seekingtodrawalineunderthepast,tendedtowardleniencyandtolerance.Austriamadenearlynoreckoningatalluntilthe1980s,whennewsbrokeaboutUNSecretaryGeneralKurtWaldheim’spast.Followingthevariousperiodsoftrialsandtestimonialsafterthewar,theshiftingattitudestowardbothperpetratorsandsurvivors,thismajorbookweighsheavilydownonthescalesofjustice.TheHolocaustisnotmere“history,“andthememoriallandscapecoveringitbarelytouchesthesurface;beneathitchurnsthemaelstromofreverberationsoftheNaziera.Reckoningsusesthestoriesofthosewhoremainedbelowtheradarofpublicrepresentations,outsidethemediaspotlight,whilealsosituatingtheirexperiencesinthechangingwidercontextsandsettingsinwhichtheysoughttomakesenseofunprecedentedsuffering.Fulbrookusestheword“reckoning“inthewidestpossiblesense,toevoketheconsequencesofviolenceonthosedirectlyinvolved,butalsoonthoseaffectedindirectly,andhowitseffectshaveexpandedalmostinfinitelyacrossplaceandtime.
