Fictionalizing the testimony in Der Tod des Widersachers, from Hans Keilson

Abstract

As we consider the literary works taken as part of the Literature of Testimony, we can observe the prevalence of autobiographical texts relating the atrocities of Nazi persecution and concentration camps. However, there are also many fictional texts, autobiographical or otherwise, that tell of such experiences and others related to the sufferings caused by National Socialism to a large part of the European population. Analysing Hans Keilson’s Der Tod des Widersachers, we try to determine the signposts of fictionality that distance the novel from a possible autobiographical reading, and reflect on the ethical and aesthetic implications of Keilson’s fictionalizing his own experiences.