Versuch über die Ökonomie der Schuld. Das radikale Böse in der Darstellung von Holocausttätern: das Beispiel von Peter Schneiders Vati

Abstract This article discusses the question of guilt and penalty in the case of mass murderers as Josef Mengele. The abnormity of the crime, it seems, requires vengeance and not just a punishment restricted to the norms of human rights. In analogy to this assumption, fictional literature on this topic that does not satisfy the reader’s desire for revenge, cannot be considered felicitous. The thesis is apparently confirmed by the fate of Vati (1987), a narrative by Peter Schneider which describes the encounter between Mengele and his son in his hideout in Brazil. Concerning the facts based o...