Abstract

Material objects play a central role in the development of human beings. The following paper reconstructs their importance in the testimony of a holocaust survivor. Materials play an important role in the formation of the lifeworld. In a concentration camp, they often gain an unexpected existential importance. According to the context clothes, wood, food, earth change their meaning for the detainees. The kind of clothes corresponds with the type of camp and may be an indicator for the chances to survive. In a concentration camp, a piece of wood can either be used to heat a room in extreme cold and contribute to the survival of a detainee or to beat and torture a prisoner. Finally, the materiality of food is experienced as a prerequisite of life; its absence is a threat, its availability a hope for survival.