Kto zachránil ľudský život, zachránil celý svet?

Rok, strany: 2014, 399 - 411

The Holocaust had a substantial impact on the former moral criteria, as it moved the limits of the evil and the ability to make a sacrifice to save others. On the basis of various approaches to human life, this paper assesses the validity of the generally accepted Talmudic affirmation: "He who saves a life saved an entire world", asking three questions: 1. What was the price of a human life at that time? 2. What was the reward for saving a life? 3. Who was (not) the saviour? The text is divided into two sub-chapters. Through oral history testimonies and published materials, the first sub-chapter depicts examples where survivors refer to serial killers as saviours (including Josef Mengele). The second sub-chapter deals with opposite examples - people who tried to save their lives of their close ones, but their actions were perceived negatively for various reasons. Chaim Rumkowski from Lodz and Rudolf Kasztner from Budapest are model examples in this regard. The conclusions attempts to give answers to the questions listed above: 1. It is not possible to quantify exactly the value of a Jewish life during the Shoah. Symbolically, it is defined by Mengele´s explanation of why he "saved" one of the survivors: "Schade für Seife" (wasted on soap); 2. The examples of Chaim Rumkowski, Rudolf Kasztner and of others show that the efforts to save a life are not always perceived positively. When assessing them, also other - often abstract - dimensions or facts that were not known to the contemporary actors are taken into account. 3. The content of the term "saviour" is also relative. There are persons who risked their lives among those to whom the survivors thank for their lives, as well as those who helped individuals, but, at the same time, bear personal or political responsibility for the tragic fates of thousands of other Jews. Also well-known are opposite cases where the actions of saviours were brought to court or met with moral condemnation by the public. The knowledge from the Holocaust period suggests that the quoted Talmudic affirmation can be accepted only if relativised with a question-mark: Did the one who saved a human life save an entire world???

ISO 690:

Salner, P. 2014. Kto zachránil ľudský život, zachránil celý svet?. In Slovenský národopis / Slovak Ethnology, vol. 62, no.3, pp. 399-411. 1339-9357.

APA:

Salner, P. (2014). Kto zachránil ľudský život, zachránil celý svet?. Slovenský národopis / Slovak Ethnology, 62(3), 399-411. 1339-9357.