‘To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.’ But despite Theodor Adorno’s dictum dramatising the Holocaust has become a trend, in both books and film. Should the Holocaust, the nadir of humanity, be fictionalised? When we do dramatise the suffering, how should we approach it, and should any topics be off limits?

Toby Haggith, co-editor with Dr Joanna Newman of The Holocaust and the Moving Image, and Peter Filkins, the translator of H.G. Adler’s trio of Holocaust novels as well as his biographer, discuss.

The chair for this event is James Libson.

Dr Toby Haggith is a historian who joined IWM’s Film Department in 1988. He is now a Senior Curator in the Department of Second World War and Mid-20th Century Conflict.

Peter Filkins is the translator of H.G. Adler’s trio of Holocaust novels and the author of Adler’s authorized biography, H.G. Adler: A Life in Many Worlds. He teaches at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.

James Libson is a partner at Mishcon de Reya. He has acted in many high-profile cases, including for Deborah Lipstadt, Gina Miller and most recently on behalf of Margaret Hodge MP, resisting her expulsion from the Labour Party.

In association with the Second Generation Network.