Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

The motif of the extermination camp and boxing recurs in many works considered as Holocaust literature. The consequence of the combination is the creation of a boxing ring in the infernal space of the camp. It is a new type of place regulated by its own internal rules. The article analyses this phenomenon in the context of Foucault’s heterotopia. The basis of the text is the short story The Boxer and Death by Józef Hen. The piece shows how the ‘other space’ of the ring establishes a new relationship between the opponents, who belong to different hierarchical orders outside of it. The place of the fight becomes an exterritorial space with its own time. Paradoxically the ring perfectly reflects the prevailing relations in the camp, but at the same time, it represents their complete negation.