Towards the end of the twentieth century, the issue of collaboration with the Third Reich became particularly problematic for deconstructive criticism. The distinction between collaboration and cooperation is often far from clear, however, and in borderline cases the opacity of the motives behind the alleged collaboration may be such that retrospective historical judgements run the risk of appearing arbitrary. In contrast, the decision to remain silent about alleged collaboration can – and should – invite negative moral judgement. On the one hand silence offers evidence of deceit; on the other, silence speaks of an absence of regret or remorse; and in the case with which this paper is primarily concerned, silence is indicative of both deceit and remorselessness.

中文翻译：

---

夜的寂静

到 20 世纪末，与第三帝国的合作问题成为解构主义批评的一个特别棘手的问题。然而，合作与合作之间的区别往往远未明确，在边缘案件中，所谓合作背后动机的不透明性可能使追溯历史判断冒着显得武断的风险。相比之下，对所谓的合作保持沉默的决定可能——而且应该——招致负面的道德判断。一方面，沉默提供了欺骗的证据；另一方面，沉默表示没有遗憾或悔恨；在本文主要关注的情况下，沉默既表示欺骗又表示无情。