Abstract:

Abstract Language can be not only a communication tool but also a dangerous weapon. In this interview, Michał Głowiński, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Literary Research (IBL), writer, author of numerous literary and scholarly publications, including Zła mowa [Bad Speech], a Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust, shares his traumatic memories and talks about verbal aggression, which is an alarm bell warning that physical aggression is to come. Following the tragic events of the mid-twentieth century, language can no longer be treated as “the house of being”: before the first brick of extermination camps was laid, the word of hatred had thundered first. This is why it is so important to remember the past and to carefully analyse the language of the present, so that the horrible story of the Holocaust can never happen again. The Holocaust is the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century, which brutally destroyed millions of Jews. It also put an end to survivors’ hope of achieving a harmony of self-identity. The Holocaust must be remembered. Literature is one of the tools for keeping it in memory and taking a closer look at all the crimes that were committed. The painful experience of the Holocaust has been reflected in the works of Jewish writers. It is also at the roots of tragic contradictions, the sense of internal emptiness and loss of empathy.

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