Encountering the trauma of the Holocaust: Dialogue and its discontents in the Broszat-Friedlander exchanges of letters

This article investigates the exchanges of letters of 1987 between the hist orians Martin Broszat and Saul Friedlander through the interpretive framewo rk of "dialogue." it is suggested that dialogue does not have a dyadic stru cture but involves ever shifting Thirds that function as mediators in dialo gue, i.e., God, conscience, reason, or tradition. On one hand, Thirds provi de a seemingly stable, external reference point; on the other hand, they op en up space for the play of power and desire. Four categories of Thirds are identified and their place and role in the dialogue between Broszat and Fr iedlander analyzed. The psychoanalytically inspired notions of "acting-out" and "working-through" are employed in order to interpret the varying degre es of critical control Broszat and Friedlander were able to apply to these interfering Thirds. Finally, I give an overall interpretation of Broszat's and Friedlander's positions in the dialogue, guided by the concepts of acti ng-out and working-through.