Holocaust: Religious and Philosophical Implications

Holocaust: Religious and Philosophical Implications is an anthology specifically designed for use as a textbook for courses on the Holocaust in universities and adult study groups. It is a compilation of what are now "classic" pieces in the voluminous literature on the Holocaust - pieces by Raul Hilberg, Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi, George Steiner, Richard Rubenstein and Irving Greenberg - all organized around what the editors have found to be the most often asked questions by their students: (1) Is the Holocaust unique? (2) What really happened in the ghettos and death camps? (3) Who knew what was going on? (4) How could people do the things they did? (5) What about God?

Governed by the thesis that the Holocaust left fundamental questions, Holocaust: Religious and Philosophical Implications, in addition to being organized around the five themes identified above, addresses the multiple implications of complexities such as resistance during the Holocaust, and Jewish and Christian identity after Auschwitz.

John K. Roth is the Pitzer Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, where he has taught since 1966. In 1988, he was named National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Roth is a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington.

MICHAEL BERENBAUM was the Director of the United States Holocaust Research Institute of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Goldman Adjunct Professor of Theology at GeorgetownUniversity. From 1988-1993, he served as Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he was responsible for the conceptualization and development of the Museum's permanent exhibition. Berenbaum is the President and CEO of The Survivors of the Shoah, A Visual History Foundation, located in Los Angeles, CA.