Remembrance, Repentance, Reconciliation: The 25th Anniversary Volume of the Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches (review)

Book Reviews 143 duction to the volume is rooted in an earlier call along these lines by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin ofChicago at an International Vatican-Jewish meeting in Baltimore. Comments are in order with respect to the essays by Nechama Tec and Susan Nowak. I have greatly admired Tec's scholarly contributions to the study of rescuers, especially Polish rescuers, during the Holocaust. But her contribution to this volume is disappointing, even disturbing, in parts. She paints an extensive portrait of Polish antisemitism that simply lacks the necessary nuancing and does not reflect the in-depth studies of the question which have appeared in the many volumes of the annual Polin in particular. Without question there was antisemitism in Poland and it was especially virulent in religio-nationalistic circles in the immediate pre-war period. But that is hardly the whole story of Polish-Jewish relations in Poland. Also, her assertions that Pius XII pursued an official "pro-German policy" and that "[t]he Vatican supported the policies of the Third Reich" (p. 35) are vast overstatements that are presented without scholarly argument. This is surprising for a scholar ofTec's ability. With respect to Nowak, she seems to establish too direct a link between classical Christian antisemitism and Nazi ideology without making necessary distinctions. But she is to be commended for her argument that the Holocaust has profound implications for the very basis of Catholic systematic theology, particularly in the areas of Christology, sacraments, ecclesiology, and soteriology. Overall we can say that Harry James Cargas in his final work has done again what he did so often in his lifetime, namely, raise vital, thought-provoking questions through the contributors he assembled for this volume. While in-depth scholarly responses to these questions need to be'sought elsewhere, Cargas and his collaborators force us to deal with issues many would prefer to see fade away. That no doubt will prove to be his permanent legacy. John T. Pawlikowski Catholic Theological Union Chicago Remembrance, Repentance, Reconciliation: The 25th Anniversary Volume of the Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches, edited by Douglas F. Tobler. Studies in the Shoah, XXI. Latham, New York & London: University Press of America, 1998. 215 pp. $37.50. We are in a time frame where many new monographs and journal articles about the Holocaust appear with greater frequency. Most would agree that it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with some ofthe latest scholarship, except what might be termed "the big bang issues." Volumes that compile the results of conferences are often useful because they suggest some of the new scholarship in process as well as providing some articles with unique approaches which otherwise might not be known. 144 SHOFAR Fa112000 Vol. 19, NO.1 The current volume is the result of the Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust, held at Brigham Young University in 1995. Generally, it is an eclectic assortment ofwriting, most ofwhich, however, will be found useful for those involved with teaching about the Holocaust. Three articles deal with aspects of teaching about the Holocaust, including Marcia Sachs Littell's interesting "Breaking the Silence: A History ofHolocaust Education in America." As Littell relates, Franklin Littell, Marie Syrkin, and Yaffa Eliach taught the first courses about the Holocaust during the period 1959-1961. The first major conference was the Tutzing Conference, held during August 1959 in Bavaria. The 1967 Arab-Israeli war seems to have served as a stimulus for making analogies between the Holocaust and Arab threats against Israel in the period preceding the June War. This led to more popular and scholarly interest in the Holocaust, even though the publication ofworks by scholars and survivors had begun in earnest during the mid-1960s. However, events in Israel did strengthen the interest ofawareness by Christian scholars and theologians. Pedagogical approaches improved during this period and were capped by Presidential interest through the establishment of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. The rest, as is often said, is history, albeit not without problems. Littell asserts correctly that teaching cannot be left on an ad hoc basis, and to that one might add that the subject should not be dominated, as...