Confronting \u27choiceless choices\u27 in Holocaust videotestimonies : judgement, \u27privileged\u27 Jews, and the role of the interviewer

\u27Privileged\u27 Jews include those prisoners in the camps and ghettos who held positions which gave them access to material and other benefits. Subject to extreme levels of coercion, these victims were compelled to act in ways that have been judged as both self-serving and harmful to fellow inmates. Such situations, which exemplify what influential theorist Lawrence Langer terms \u27choiceless choices\u27, are the chief concern of Primo Levi\u27s paradigmatic essay on the \u27grey zone\u27. In light of these key conceptualizations of the ethical dilemmas of Holocaust victims, the paper analyses the representation of \u27privileged\u27 Jews in several videotestimonies recorded at the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre (JHMRC) in Melbourne, Australia. It will be shown that judgements of victims in extremis cause considerable problems for attempts to testify to the complex situations and experiences of \u27privileged\u27 Jews. The role of the interviewer is a crucial factor in this, particularly when interviewers are themselves Holocaust survivors. The paper reveals that while it might be argued that moral evaluations of \u27privileged\u27 Jews should be suspended, judgements are often imposed on Holocaust testimonies in various ways and have a significant impact on their content