ABSTRACT
When language refers to something, it does not reproduce it in all its magnitude; one can refer to things in two ways: by ‘acquaintance’, which is the direct contact, the personal knowledge, or by ‘description’, where things are referred to through language although we are not in direct contact with them. Nazism cannot be described by acquaintance or by words evoking direct experiences, but it can be done by description. This chapter discusses the materials behind which Nazism lurks as a horrifying background but which seem to be adequate for the circumscribed and specific objective of discussing the vicissitudes of identification. The concept of autism is taken as a normal developmental stage which sometimes may last longer than it should but may also become rigidified and chronic. This encapsulation enables to differentiate it from other mechanisms used by survivors of Nazism.
