Death & Justice : An Ethical Response to Massacre

This paper applies Derrida’s ‘politics of mourning’ to a particular event in Polish history, namely the Katyn massacre of WWII. For Derrida, mourning is an ongoing entrusted responsibility to the Other. It is an ongoing responsibility to memory of the Other and a responsibility in the face of a heritage. This work of mourning is not to be perceived as only a responsibility to our immediate friends, but is also to be seen as a political and collective responsibility, especially when the lives we are mourning are lost as a result of politics. With a focus on ethics, responsibility and justice, this paper is a way of thinking and responding to this particular massacre. It is an attempt to break the silence that existed after the event for so long and it is a call for justice. But what exactly is justice? Is justice a necessary part of mourning? What is the most ethical way to mourn? What is an ethical response to a massacre around which there has been so much silence? We can begin to answer these questions by using Derrida’s idea of mourning as a future-oriented memory which is dedicated to an ethical responsibility to the trace of the Other. To be silent, to be non-responsive, is an unethical response to this event.

© Inter-Disciplinary Press 2009.