A testemunha como “fazedor de história”: uma análise da obra impressa de Norberto Toedter (2000-2010)

Abstract

This master's thesis seeks to analyze three books written by Norberto Toedter, produced between the years 2000 and 2010. These books are initially presented as a result of the testimony of what Norberto Toedter lived in Germany during the Second World War, but they end up extrapolating this aspect and seek to compete with historiography from moments when he begins to narrate and analyze issues that escape his testimony. In addition, Toedter's writings try to contest the historiographical productions through what the author testified and some other authors, including some of them Holocaust deniers. Thus, we first try to understand how the author narrates his trajectory and Toedter's textual production logic as a "history maker". In a second moment, we started to analyze the different functions that Toedter plays in his writing; the relationship between witness and historian, as well as the relationship between historical witness and legal witness, and a few others. We also try to understand what scenarios these roles build within Toedter's narrative and what purpose through the uses that the author tries to make of history through his writing. Through these analyses, we can see that Toedter makes use of his condition as a witness of the Second World War (noting that the importance of that also changes over time) in a different way from the production and new historical events and from a respective social imaginary to be able to articulate his narrative to create a narrative that aligns with the Holocaust denialist narratives.