Facing death : confronting mortality in the Holocaust and ourselves / edited and introduced by Sarah K. Pinnock.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pinnock, Sarah K., editor.

Series:

Stephen S. Weinstein series in post-Holocaust studies

The Stephen S. Weinstein series in post-Holocaust studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Death--Psychological aspects.

Death.

Mortality.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

Children of Holocaust survivors.

Children of Holocaust survivors--Personal narratives.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Psychological aspects.

Psychological aspects.

Genre:

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xviii, 199 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2017]

Summary:

"What do we learn about death from the Holocaust and how does it impact our responses to mortality today? Facing Death: Confronting Mortality in the Holocaust and Ourselves brings together the work of eleven Holocaust and genocide scholars who address these difficult questions, convinced of the urgency of further reflection on the Holocaust as the last survivors pass away. The volume is distinctive in its dialogical and introspective approach, where the contributors position themselves to confront their own impending death while listening to the voices of victims and learning from their intimate experiences. Broken in to three parts, this collection engages with these voices in a way that is not only scholarly, but deeply personal. The first part of the book engages with Holocaust testimony by drawing on the writings of survivors and witnesses such as Elie Wiesel, Jean Amery, and Charlotte Delbo, including rare accounts from members of the Sonderkommando. Reflections of post-Holocaust generations--the children and grandchildren of survivors--are housed in the second part, addressing questions of remembrance and memorialization. The concluding essays offer intimate self-reflection about how engagement with the Holocaust impacts the contributors' personal lives, faiths, and ethics. In an age of continuing atrocities, this volume provides careful attention to the affective dimension of coping with death, in particular, how loss and grief are deferred or denied, narrated and passed along"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Engagement with Holocaust Testimony

1 Holocaust Victims Speak; Do We Listen? / Leonard Grob Grob, Leonard 5

2 Dying in the Death Camps as Acts of Defiance / H. Martin Rumscheidt Rumscheidt, H. Martin 17

3 At What Cost Survival? The Problem of the Prisoner-Functionary / Lissa Skitolsky Skitolsky, Lissa 31

4 Witnessing Unrelenting Grief / Myrna Goldenberg Goldenberg, Myrna 47

Part II Self-Consciousness of Mortality

5 Living For: Holocaust Survivors and Their Adult Children Encounter Death and Mortality / Michael Dobkowski Dobkowski, Michael 61

6 Bearing Witness to a Grotesque Land / Amy H. Shapiro Shapiro, Amy H. 77

7 Melding Generations: A Meditation on Memory and Mortality / Rochelle L. Millen Millen, Rochelle L. 94

Part III Ethical and Religious Reflection

8 Experiences of Death: Our Mortality and the Holocaust / Sarah K. Pinnock Pinnock, Sarah K. 113

9 A Jewish Reflection on the Nazis' Assault on Death / David Patterson Patterson, David 128

10 Auschwitz and Hiroshima as Challenges to a Belief in the Afterlife: A Catholic Perspective / Didier Pollefeyt Pollefeyt, Didier 141

11 Facing Death: What Happens to the Holocaust If Death Is the Last Word? / John K. Roth Roth, John K. 156.

Notes:

"A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book" -- Title page.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780295999265

0295999268

9780295999272

0295999276

OCLC:

966913259