Two Schools of Thought on the Holocaust: Snyder v Bauman

Abstract

The article describes two approaches to the Holocaust, identified with the names of Zygmunt Bauman and Timothy Snyder. In this dyad, Bauman stands for the culturalist, sociological approach focused on identifying the social conditions in which otherness is produced and tracing the significance of modernity and bureaucracy for the Shoah. In contrast, Snyder dismisses the notion that anti-Semitism and modern statehood played a crucial part in the Holocaust. The study also identifies contemporary adherents of the two interpretations in Poland.