On August 1, 1984, a group of Polish Carmelite nuns, with the approval of both church and government authorities, but apparently without any dialogue with members of the Polish or international Jewish community, moved into a building at the site of Auschwitz I. This establishment of a Roman Catholic convent in what was once a storehouse for the poisonous Zyklon B used in the gas chambers of the Nazi extermination center has sparked intense controversy between Jews and Christians. Memory Offended is as definitive a survey of the Auschwitz convent controversy as could be hoped for. But even more important than its thorough chronological record of events pertinent to the dispute, is the book's use of this particular controversy as a departure for reflection on fundamental issues for Jews and Christians and their relationships with each other. Essays by fourteen distinguished international scholars who represent diverse viewpoints within their Jewish and Christian traditions identify, analyze, and comment on the long-range issues, questions, and implications at the heart of the controversy. A recent interview with the internationally renowned Holocaust authority and survivor, Elie Wiesel, makes an important contribution to the ongoing discussion. The volume merits careful reading by all who seek to learn the lessons this controversy can teach both Christians and Jews.
In their introduction, editors Carol Rittner and John K. Roth define the meaning of the word covenant in both the Jewish and Christian religious traditions. They develop a compelling argument for the notion that the Christian concept of a new covenant between God and humanity, which supposedly superseded Judaism's old covenant, formed the basis for the centuries-old anti-Jewish contempt that led to Auschwitz--the Nazi death camp where 1.6 million human beings, mostly Jews, were exterminated. The editors contend that the existence of a convent at this site offended memory. The vital issue of what constitutes a fitting Auschwitz memorial is addressed throughout the volume's three major divisions in which important thinkers, including Robert McAfee Brown and Richard L. Rubenstein, among others, investigate The History and Politics of Memory, The Psychology of Memory, and The Theology of Memory. Important tools for researchers are a chronology of events pertinent to the Auschwitz convent controversy, 1933-1990 and an appendix that contains many key documents relating to the controversy. Memory Offended will be an important resource in university and public libraries as well as in Holocaust courses, classes on Jewish Studies, twentieth-century history, and those that focus on interreligious issues.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Memory Offended by Carol Rittner and John K. Roth
Chronology of Events Pertinent to the Auschwitz Convent Controversy, 1933-1990
The History and Politics of Memory
The Convent at Auschwitz and the Imperatives of Pluralism in the Global Electronic Village by Richard L. Rubenstein
Jews and Poles: Remembering at a Cemetery by Ronald Modras
The Auschwitz Convent Controversy: Mutual Misperceptions by John T. Pawlikowski
Backward and Forward by Gabriel Moran
The Struggle for Civility: The Auschwitz Controversy and the Forces Behind It by Michael Berenbaum
The Psychology of Memory
The Controversy over the Convent at Auschwitz by Hermann Langbein
Auschwitz and Oswiecim: One Location, Two Memories by Emanuel Tanay
An Interview, August 29, 1989 by Elie Wiesel and Carol Rittner
The Controversy over Carmel at Auschwitz: A Personal Polish-Jewish Chronology by Stanislaw Krajewski
The Psychological Point of View by Leo Eitinger
The Theology of Memory
The New Road by Claire Huchet-Bishop
Historical Memories in Conflict by Judith Hershcopf Banki
Auschwitz: Where Only Silence Becomes Prayer by Mary Jo Leddy
Jewish and Christian Suffering in the Post-Auschwitz Period by Albert H. Friedlander
Memory Redeemed? by Robert McAfee Brown
Afterword
Appendix: Key Documents about the Auschwitz Convent Controversy
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
CAROL RITTNER, formerly Director of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity in New York, is a Roman Catholic Sister of Mercy who has written extensively. Her previous books include The Courage to Care (edited with Sondra Myers, 1986) and Elie Wiesel: Between Memory and Hope (1990).
JOHN K. ROTH is Pitzer Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California. In addition to lecturing widely throughout the United States and the world, Roth has published more than 175 articles, reviews, and 17 books. His most recent books are Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy, The Questions of Philosophy, American Ground: Vistas, Visions, and Revisions and Holocaust: Religious and Philosophical Implications.
Review :
"The Auschwitz convent controversy put postwar Christianity and Judaism and all their attempts at repentance and reconciliation to the test. This book sheds light on this conflict which is one of the most painful, indeed agonizing, public religious controversies of recent years. The book is marked by candor and integrity. The essays are consistently full of insights and self-revelation with very little special pleading. The key documents are included. This book deserves wide reading."- Irving Greenberg, President The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
"This is a book of extraordinary power. The essays are written by eminent Christian, Jewish, and gentile scholars and thinkers....[A]nyone conversant with the Christian/Jewish dialogue knows that even twenty-five years ago such a book could not have been written or published. The dialogue has moved beyond civil conversation and mutual commiseration. Fundamental feelings are being expressed in the confidence that no offence will be taken, and basic convictions are being affirmed in trust that the other party will make an honest effort to understand and interpret fairly. The essays are excellent, the documentaries are indispensable to the student of a landmark event, and the editors are due a rousing vote of gratitude."-Franklin H. Littell President, The Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust
?This book is a helpful, insightful, and provocative resource for all who seek to understand current issues in Christian-Jewish conversations.?-Religious Studies Review
"This book is a helpful, insightful, and provocative resource for all who seek to understand current issues in Christian-Jewish conversations."-Religious Studies Review
