A Bystander or a (Passive) Witness? A Few Remarks on the Consequences of the Choice of Terminology in Shoah or Holocaust Studies

Abstract

The article is an attempt at an analysis of usefulness of the concept of “bystander” that is increasingly popular in social sciences, in modern studies of Shoah and Holocaust. The author points to objective terminological dependencies, but she also takes into consideration the differences in the historical and cultural experience that require different perceptions of the role of witnesses in the English language discourse and in the East European, and especially Polish perspective.