Badenheim 1939: Analysis of Setting
"Badenheim 1939: Analysis of Setting" explores the fictional Austrian resort town of Badenheim, a representation influenced by real-life locations visited by author Aharon Appelfeld in the late 1930s. The narrative unfolds in a vibrant vacation environment, centered around a music festival, where an entirely Jewish clientele and workforce seek leisure and enjoyment at the hotel. However, as the story progresses, the idyllic setting is transformed by the ominous presence of the Sanitation Department, which erects barriers that confine the community while its members remain blissfully unaware of the impending doom. This transition from the abundance of spring to the scarcity of fall mirrors the deterioration of their situation, culminating in a stark reality as resources dwindle and the post office closes.
The railway station serves as a crucial point of entry and exit for visitors, symbolizing both hope and entrapment. As the narrative nears its conclusion, the Jews of Badenheim are led to the station under the watchful eyes of authorities, maintaining a facade of optimism even as they are herded into dirty freight cars. The story subtly critiques the false sense of security held by the community while hinting at the grim fate awaiting them in Poland, a destination laden with the historical weight of the Holocaust. This analysis invites readers to reflect on the juxtaposition of normalcy and impending tragedy, offering a poignant insight into a community's denial in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Badenheim 1939: Analysis of Setting
First published:Badenheim, ‘ir nofesh, 1975 (English translation, 1980)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Parable
Time of work: 1939
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
Badenheim
Badenheim (BAH-dehn-him). Fictitious Austrian resort town based on real Austrian resorts that Aharon Appelfeld and his family visited during the late 1930’s. The entire novel is set in and around Badenheim. The main attraction at this beautiful vacation resort is its music festival.
The original Hebrew title of the novel, which translates as “Badenheim, resort town,” emphasizes place even more than the book’s English title. By adding a date, the English title clearly sets the story in the context of the Holocaust.
Hotel
Hotel. Huge Badenheim building adjoined by the spacious, beautiful Luxembourg Gardens. The clientele of the hotel are entirely Jewish, and most of its workers are Jews from Austria and Poland.
The novel starts at the beginning of the resort season, early spring. As the novel progresses, the Sanitation Department erects fences, puts out rolls of barbed wire, and erects cement pillars enclosing the hotel and its gardens and thus enclosing the Jews. Although to the reader, the nature of the changes the Sanitation Department makes clearly relate the setting of the story to the Holocaust, the visitors and workers in the hotel blissfully misinterpret what is happening; they see the changes as a sign of the Sanitation Department’s efficiency. They eat, drink, listen to music, and enjoy themselves.
As the seasons progress, the abundance of the spring season gives way to the scarcity of fall. People begin to pack. Dogs and sentries patrol outside the barriers erected around the hotel. The post office closes. There is less and less food and drink for the visitors and workers. People loot the pharmacy, stealing drugs, and begin to take them in private.
Sanitation Department
Sanitation Department. Government department that quickly becomes the center of the town’s activity. All Jews, both visitors and workers, must go there to register. Even Christians who have Jewish parents or grandparents must register there. To both visitors and workers at Badenheim, the Sanitation Department itself begins to look like a travel agency decorated with posters about the value of labor and the wonders of Poland. However, it is the government agency that is overseeing the destruction of the town’s Jews. Aside from a few people who do not consider themselves Jews, but whom the Sanitation Department considers Jews, no one confronts the department or even tries to leave, despite the ominous warnings.
Railway station
Railway station. Badenheim train depot through which virtually all visitors pass. Visitors to Badenheim get there by various means, but most come by train, arrive at the railroad station, and take carriages to the hotel. All of them leave by train. At the end of the novel, policemen and dogs accompany the Jews as they walk through the town and the fields to the railroad station. When they arrive, they are excited about their trip. The sun comes out, and they get a beautiful view of the area around the station. Even when an engine followed by four dirty freight cars enters the station and the people are forced into the freight cars, they do not lose their enthusiasm. One passenger even optimistically suggests that the fact that the coaches are dirty must mean they have not far to go.
*Poland
*Poland. Apparent final destination of all the Jews at Badenheim. Austrian Jews at Badenheim blame the Polish Jews for all their problems; they consider themselves more cultured than the Polish Jews and thus less Jewish. The Polish Jews reply that they are all Jews. It is apparent from the circumstances of the novel that Nazi death camps in Poland are the final destination of all the Badenheim Jews.
Sources for Further Study
Appelfeld, Aharon. The Story of a Life: A Memoir. Translated by Aloma Halter. New York: Schocken Books, 2004.
Bernstein, Michael André. Foregone Conclusions: Against Apocalyptic History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Describes the way in which three historical periods—Austria before the Nazi rule, Austria during the Nazi rule, and the world after the Holocaust—are interrelated simultaneously in the novel.
Brown, Michael, and Sara R. Horowitz, eds. Encounter with Aharon Appelfeld. Oakville, Ont.: Mosaic Press, 2003.
Budick, Emily Miller. Aharon Appelfeld’s Fiction: Acknowledging the Holocaust. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Coffin, Edna Amir. “Appelfeld’s Exceptional Universe: Harmony out of Chaos.” Hebrew Studies 24 (1983): 85-98.
Langer, Lawrence L. “Aharon Appelfeld and the Uses of Language and Silence.” In Remembering for the Future, edited by Yehuda Bauer et al. 3 vols. Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press, 1989. Discusses Appelfeld’s irony and ambiguity. The set also includes articles on Aharon Appelfeld by Nurit Govrin, A. Komem, Gila Ramraz-Raukh, and Lea Hamaoui.
Ramraz-Ra’ukh, Gilah. Aharon Appelfeld: The Holocaust and Beyond. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. Speaks of the novel’s “cold horror.” Sees the end as having been foreshadowed in the beginning.
Roth, Philip. “A Conversation with Philip Roth.” In Beyond Despair, by Aharon Appelfeld, translated by Jeffrey M. Green. New York: Fromm International, 1994. First published in The New York Review of Books, February 28, 1988. Philip Roth, the American novelist, talks with Appelfeld about his life and works. Roth calls Badenheim 1939 “vexing.” The interview gives insight into the novel’s autobiographical and historical background.
Schwartz, Yigal. Aharon Appelfeld: From Individual Lament to Tribal Eternity. Translated by Jeffrey M. Green. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England for Brandeis University.
Wisse, Ruth R. “Aharon Appelfeld, Survivor.” Commentary 76, no. 2 (August, 1983): 73-76. Discerns a “mood of predestination” in the novel. Emphasizes the self-deception of many of the characters.