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Shameless: Exploiting the Holocaust: Jewish Quarterly 261
"The Shoah is everywhere in popular culture but, as it really was, it is nowhere." —Tanya Gold
In novels, film and popular culture, the Holocaust genre is booming. Streaming hits and bestsellers are playing a vital role in shaping our understanding of the past.
But, as Tanya Gold shows in this excoriating essay, the creators of these works all too often engage in crass or self-serving exploitation. In this new wave of Shoah blockbusters, the destruction of the Jews becomes a plot device, Auschwitz a readymade backdrop – and the truth is elided or erased. They pretend to be looking, but they are looking away.
Shameless is a moral reckoning. It traces the link between the glibness of these representations and the persistence of the hatred that fuelled the Shoah – and warns of the dangers when memory is distorted, and history is turned into spectacle.
In novels, film and popular culture, the Holocaust genre is booming. Streaming hits and bestsellers are playing a vital role in shaping our understanding of the past.
But, as Tanya Gold shows in this excoriating essay, the creators of these works all too often engage in crass or self-serving exploitation. In this new wave of Shoah blockbusters, the destruction of the Jews becomes a plot device, Auschwitz a readymade backdrop – and the truth is elided or erased. They pretend to be looking, but they are looking away.
Shameless is a moral reckoning. It traces the link between the glibness of these representations and the persistence of the hatred that fuelled the Shoah – and warns of the dangers when memory is distorted, and history is turned into spectacle.
98 pages, Paperback
Published August 21, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 23, 2025
This is an angry essay, and understandably so.
Gold shreds the worst of books and films that appropriate the Holocaust for their own tawdry purposes, giving cogent if sometimes intemperate reasons for her disdain. Sarcasm isn't always the best way to argue a case.
FWIW If you are a fan of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Sophie's Choice, this essay will help you understand why you might want to reconsider your enthusiasm.
Gold shreds the worst of books and films that appropriate the Holocaust for their own tawdry purposes, giving cogent if sometimes intemperate reasons for her disdain. Sarcasm isn't always the best way to argue a case.
FWIW If you are a fan of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Sophie's Choice, this essay will help you understand why you might want to reconsider your enthusiasm.
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October 8, 2025Fascinating, sharp-edged essay about Holocaust fiction and film.
September 1, 2025
Like Dara Horn’s People Love Dead Jews…this is a must read for those looking to truly understand the Shoah in popular culture.
November 28, 2025
Explores how popular culture is exploiting the memory of Holocaust, through the lens of such novels as "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "Sophie's Choice", et al.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews