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This extraordinary book is based on more than fifty diaries of Jewish Holocaust victims of all ages, written while the events described were actually taking place. Many of the manuscripts were literally buried by their authors, who wrote knowing that their words might never be read by others but nonetheless did their best to preserve them. Many of the writers did not survive. Patterson's book is unique not only in the number of diaries and original texts it examines but also in the questions it raises and in the approach it takes from within Jewish traditions and contexts.Patterson clarifies fundamental distinctions between the Holocaust diary and previous examples of the genre, and he explores in depth the religious dimensions of the Holocaust. He has organized his book around a series of themes that lead to a deeper understanding of the meaning of these works for both their writers and their readers, affirming the Holocaust diary as a form of spiritual resistance. Throughout, he draws upon his impressive knowledge of Jewish texts, ancient and modern -- Torah, Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, the medieval commentators, the Hasidic masters, and modern Jewish philosophers and thinkers.In Along the Edge of Annihilation David Patterson illuminates the spiritual and physical devastation experienced by the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. He shows how they chose life and the spirit of life in the midst of the Inferno.
Summary
Based on more than fifty diaries of Holocaust victims of all ages, written while the events described were taking place. This book illuminates the spiritual and physical devastation experienced by European Jewry during the Holocaust, showing how Jews chose life and the spirit of life in the midst of the inferno.
