Holocaust Memory and National Museums in Britain

Abstract

which places Canadians at the heart of the history of the aftermath of Bergen-Belsen. The testimonies in Kingdom of Night reveal the truth in Dan Stone’s comment that there ‘is still much to learn from Belsen.’ There are questions which cannot be fully answered within the specific scope of this book but for which historians will find its testimonies valuable. What exactly is meant by ‘liberation’? What role does chronology play in the narratives constructed of liberation? How did non-Jewish liberators understand the experiences of Jewish survivors? How far can terms such as ‘liberator’ and ‘witness’ encompass the diversity of roles at Belsen and responses to it? Scattered primary material—often difficult to source—is critical in this task of interpretation, and there are few better places for historians to continue their work of answering such questions than this essential book.