Holocaust Voices : An Attitudinal Survey of Survivors

Intellectuals, historians, scholars, journalists, and philosophers have written much about the Holocaust. Here, for the first time, the focus is on the judgment of the eyewitness victims. What larger meaning do survivors themselves draw from their personal memories about the Holocaust? How do they relate their views to the contemporary world? Political scientist Alexander Groth, himself a Holocaust survivor and a former inhabitant of the Warsaw Ghetto, has collected 240 systematic interviews, which go far beyond the usual first-person accounts of private sufferings. The author questioned survivors about their anticipations and awareness of the Final Solution; their impression of those Germans who were active in it; and their views of fellow Jews, non-Jewish neighbors, Western Allies, the pope, and sundry political and social entities active and important during the period. Groth examines the linkages between survivor views and life experiences, personalities, Jewish roots, and demographic characteristics. The objective of this study is to arrive at a general understanding of this historic tragedy from the point of view of those who lived through it and have had the opportunity of a lifetime of mature reflection. The trove of information in this volume will be especially valuable to Holocaust scholars and leaves to posterity the significant voices of the survivors.