Description
Nearly eighty years have passed since the Holocaust. There have been hundreds of memoirs, histories and novels written about it, yet many fear that this important event may fall into oblivion. As Holocaust survivors pass away, their legacy of suffering, tenacity and courage could be forgotten. It is up to each generation to commemorate the victims, preserve their life stories and hopefully help prevent such catastrophes. These were my main motivations in writing this book, Holocaust Memories, which includes reviews of memoirs, histories, biographies, novels and films about the Holocaust. It was difficult to choose among the multitude of books on the subject that deserve our attention. I made my selections based partly on the works that are considered to be the most important on the subject; partly on wishing to offer some historical background about the Holocaust in different countries and regions that were occupied by or allied themselves with Nazi Germany, and partly on my personal preferences, interests and knowledge. The Nazis targeted European Jews as their main victims, so my book focuses primarily on them. At the same time, since the Nazis also targeted other groups they considered dangerous and inferior, I also review books about the sufferings of the Gypsies, the Poles and other groups that fell victim to the Nazi regimes. In the last part, I review books that discuss other genocides and crimes against humanity, including the Stalinist mass purges, the Cambodian massacres by the Pol Pot regime and the Rwandan genocide. I want to emphasize that history can, indeed, repeat itself, even if in different forms and contexts. Just as the Jews of Europe were not the only targets of genocide, Fascist regimes were not its only perpetrators.
About the Author
Claudia Moscovici is a Romanian-American author, who writes about the Romantic movement, and psychology as well as historical fiction. Her most recent book, Dangerous Liaisons (Relazioni Pericolose), was launched in Italian translation at the Italian Parliament, Camera dei Deputati.
Reviews
The screen that portrays the horrors of the twentieth Century is fading more rapidly than its audience can bear. Claudia Moscovici's book will go far to help keep it lit longer. -- Joseph Polak, Author of After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring, Winner of the 2015 National Jewish Book Award
This book fills a present and mounting need for all readers interested in the Holocaust, including scholars and teachers. With the literature about that unprecedented crime becoming steadily more extensive, Claudia Moscovici's work offers a valuable and well-written guide to key works on various aspects of the Holocaust or on its entire history. -- Guy Stern, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University, Director, International Institute of the Righteous Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Center
Holocaust Memories is a morally urgent book, an encyclopedia of mourning, remembrance, and compassion, an invitation and a behest to keep memory alive and to resist unwaveringly any form of authoritarian temptation. It is particularly recommended to high school and college students, but also to a general audience. I learned a lot from it and I am convinced that many others will share my superlative endorsement. -- Vladimir Tismaneanu, Professor of Politics, University of Maryland (College Park), author of The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century
A well-written series of book reviews that can be used as a solid tool for those who want to study the Holocaust. -- Radu Ioanid, author of The Holocaust in Romania and The Ransom of the Jews
Intended for a wide public and a new generation of readers, this bold and ambitious book forms an overview of the Holocaust from a myriad of sources-historical, philosophical, or literary works and films. More than sixty lucid and concise essays (usually two or three pages long) introduce various circumstances of human cruelty in Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Soviet Russia, but also in Cambodia and Rwanda. These focused readings comprise an invaluable source book for anyone seeking to understand the horrors of totalitarian regimes, constantly reminding us that moral courage must prevail over politics. -- Edward K. Kaplan, Kaiserman Professor in the Humanities Emeritus, Brandeis University, author a two-volume biography of Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)
Holocaust Memories provides a wealth of reviews and summaries of major memoirs, histories, biographies, novels and films related to the Holocaust. In the breadth of its coverage it provides an important and much-needed resource for teachers and students of all ages who are exploring the record of a tragedy so extensive and horrific it defies understanding. In bringing together testimonials and perspectives from many different voices and a range of genres, Moscovici provides a nuanced and multi-faceted approach that will allow readers to begin to register the unfathomable pain and loss brought about by the Nazis' decimation of Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other groups. The clarity and vividness of the writing make the reviews intense, each capturing a sense of the impact of the source being described. And since the anthology also covers works about other genocides, such as those in China, Cambodia, and Rwanda, it underscores that genocide is not just a matter of history; it is sadly also a matter of the present. -- Natalie McKnight, Dean and Professor of Humanities, The College of General Studies, Boston University
The Holocaust is much more than a historical event; it is a continuing story playing out in the lives of survivors, their descendants, their communities and entire societies. It is a seminal presence that provokes reflection and alerts us to the risks of falling into the abyss of inhuman depravity-of what could happen because it did happen. In Holocaust Memories, Moscovici has given us a panoramic view of the Shoah and framed it with other modern genocides. This book is at once much broader than virtually any other work I know, deeper than most in its gentle insistence that we persist in wrestling with the most fundamental moral questions. Those questions are as pertinent today as they were in 1945. Holocaust Memories will be an invaluable resource as I write my own memoirs as a survivor. -- Martin Heisler, Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park
Book Information
ISBN 9780761870920
Author Claudia Moscovici
Format Paperback
Page Count 250
Imprint Hamilton Books
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 376g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 155mm * 18mm
About the Author
Claudia Moscovici is a Romanian-American author, who writes about the Romantic movement, and psychology as well as historical fiction. Her most recent book, Dangerous Liaisons (Relazioni Pericolose), was launched in Italian translation at the Italian Parliament, Camera dei Deputati.
Reviews
The screen that portrays the horrors of the twentieth Century is fading more rapidly than its audience can bear. Claudia Moscovici's book will go far to help keep it lit longer. -- Joseph Polak, Author of After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring, Winner of the 2015 National Jewish Book Award
This book fills a present and mounting need for all readers interested in the Holocaust, including scholars and teachers. With the literature about that unprecedented crime becoming steadily more extensive, Claudia Moscovici's work offers a valuable and well-written guide to key works on various aspects of the Holocaust or on its entire history. -- Guy Stern, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University, Director, International Institute of the Righteous Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Center
Holocaust Memories is a morally urgent book, an encyclopedia of mourning, remembrance, and compassion, an invitation and a behest to keep memory alive and to resist unwaveringly any form of authoritarian temptation. It is particularly recommended to high school and college students, but also to a general audience. I learned a lot from it and I am convinced that many others will share my superlative endorsement. -- Vladimir Tismaneanu, Professor of Politics, University of Maryland (College Park), author of The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century
A well-written series of book reviews that can be used as a solid tool for those who want to study the Holocaust. -- Radu Ioanid, author of The Holocaust in Romania and The Ransom of the Jews
Intended for a wide public and a new generation of readers, this bold and ambitious book forms an overview of the Holocaust from a myriad of sources-historical, philosophical, or literary works and films. More than sixty lucid and concise essays (usually two or three pages long) introduce various circumstances of human cruelty in Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Soviet Russia, but also in Cambodia and Rwanda. These focused readings comprise an invaluable source book for anyone seeking to understand the horrors of totalitarian regimes, constantly reminding us that moral courage must prevail over politics. -- Edward K. Kaplan, Kaiserman Professor in the Humanities Emeritus, Brandeis University, author a two-volume biography of Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)
Holocaust Memories provides a wealth of reviews and summaries of major memoirs, histories, biographies, novels and films related to the Holocaust. In the breadth of its coverage it provides an important and much-needed resource for teachers and students of all ages who are exploring the record of a tragedy so extensive and horrific it defies understanding. In bringing together testimonials and perspectives from many different voices and a range of genres, Moscovici provides a nuanced and multi-faceted approach that will allow readers to begin to register the unfathomable pain and loss brought about by the Nazis' decimation of Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other groups. The clarity and vividness of the writing make the reviews intense, each capturing a sense of the impact of the source being described. And since the anthology also covers works about other genocides, such as those in China, Cambodia, and Rwanda, it underscores that genocide is not just a matter of history; it is sadly also a matter of the present. -- Natalie McKnight, Dean and Professor of Humanities, The College of General Studies, Boston University
The Holocaust is much more than a historical event; it is a continuing story playing out in the lives of survivors, their descendants, their communities and entire societies. It is a seminal presence that provokes reflection and alerts us to the risks of falling into the abyss of inhuman depravity-of what could happen because it did happen. In Holocaust Memories, Moscovici has given us a panoramic view of the Shoah and framed it with other modern genocides. This book is at once much broader than virtually any other work I know, deeper than most in its gentle insistence that we persist in wrestling with the most fundamental moral questions. Those questions are as pertinent today as they were in 1945. Holocaust Memories will be an invaluable resource as I write my own memoirs as a survivor. -- Martin Heisler, Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park
Book Information
ISBN 9780761870920
Author Claudia Moscovici
Format Paperback
Page Count 250
Imprint Hamilton Books
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 376g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 155mm * 18mm
