Documenting the Holocaust for Eternity

(Option 2)

“History is written by the victors”—rather, by whatever mode of communication, be it written, spoken, or recorded, to name a few, that said victor has at their disposal.  The way in which someone communicates itself conveys almost as much, if not more, information as the facts or opinions that were supposed to be conveyed in the first place.  If someone chose to communicate through writing- what did they write on?  Did they decide to handwrite or to type?  What could these factors reveal about societal trends and values at the time?  Similarly, when considering types of visual communication, factors such as tone of voice, expression, setting, lighting, and more can all lend insight into the customs of a particular group of people and/or a place in time.  By choosing to set his Holocaust documentary Never Forget to Lie in the present, as a reflection on the past, Marian Marzynski successfully implemented many modern modes of communication to weave together all elements of his story and really connect to the audience.

Although Never Forget to Lie is a relatively current documentary (released May 2013), it did not seem to utilize all of the fanciest special effects, lighting techniques, or camera styles available today—for understandable reasons.  By refraining from implementing the most sophisticated effects into the film, Marzynski gave the film an air of simplicity and honesty that did not detract from or try to gloss over any of the atrocities of the Holocaust.  In addition to helping define the Holocaust and really place it into perspective for the audience, this tactic shows how choosing not to use all of the most up-to-date methods of communication to make a point can convey ideas just as effectively and fluidly as can the most up to date methods.  In addition, the lack of the most flashy current effects gave the film a more timeless air, linked by its filming style and footage to neither the 1940s nor to the early 21^st century, which complimented the film’s juxtaposition of elements from “then” and “now”.  This juxtaposition communicated to the audience that although time has passed, the Holocaust must not be forgotten, and cannot be as a result of the memories and intangible scars that will not fade.

The documentary’s striking usage of emotional survivor testimony and footage must also be discussed in the context of communication reflecting history and society.  Emotional outpourings—smiles, frowns, laughter, tears—are some of humanity’s most basic and one of society’s earliest forms of communication that can be understood across societies around the world, even across time.  That Marzynski uses raw signs of emotion such as the aforementioned in tandem with bare, striking images and haunting anecdotes to create a sense of pathos reinforces Marzynski’s ability to clearly convey simple, plain truths about the Holocaust to people around the world.  In addition, the barren, stark nature of this emotional footage suggests to the audience the way in which the Holocaust dehumanized and attempted to strip from countless people their most intrinsic human identity.

The film’s simple portrayal of an immensely complex matter further demonstrates how modern modes of communication can intensify and broaden the rhetorical devices individuals have at their disposal.  The form of a modern documentary itself, with all of its varied visual and audile components, immediately enhances the rhetorical decisions the filmmaker can make.  This is shown in all of Marzynski’s choices, including lighting (generally dark), camera angle (generally straight; sometimes directed up to present buildings, such as the Warsaw Ghetto, in more dramatic ways), camera movement (generally not that much; slow if any), musical elements (haunting orchestral music to accompany especially chilling moments), and ability to synthesize (Marzynski synthesized image, text, sound, and movement not only from the same era but also across time periods).  Marzynski’s full synthesis of these various components allowed him to seamlessly juxtapose images from war-ravaged Europe with current footage of the Warsaw Ghetto or Treblinka concentration camp; to juxtapose footage of himself reconnecting in the 1980s with certain righteous gentiles who hid him during the war as he stands currently in the very monastery where he was hidden; and to juxtapose actual Holocaust-era artifacts with the ornaments and collectables in his nicely furnished and cared for American home.

The capacity to involve all of these different types of media in one type of interface is an asset unique to the technology and forms of communication of the present time.  Less visual forms of modern communication can still deliver a compelling message to an audience through sound effects, music, and dialogue.  Similarly, forms of communication lacking sound can do this through photographs and pictures that have often been edited with new technology to sharpen or blur or lighten or darken an image.  Never Forget to Lie, a conglomerate of both of these facets of communication and more, is extremely effective in forging a lasting bond with the audience, and will likely be capable of doing so with subsequent generations far into the future.