An Epitaph for German Judaism: From Halle to Jerusalem (review)

Thanks to the valiant efforts of his friend and disciple Michael Morgan—the most gifted of his students—Emil Fackenheim's autobiography has been published at last four years after his death. Fackenheim clearly ranks as one of the world's pre-eminent post-Holocaust theologians; he spent his last thirty-five years wrestling with the challenge that the radical evil of the Holocaust poses to faith in humanity as well as to faith in God.

Fackenheim represented his own life as a series of journeys, each one significant in its own right, each different, and each formative. Born in 1916, he was still a teenager when Hitler came to power. Those who knew Fackenheim will not be surprised to learn of his diligence as a student or his pursuit of philosophy and his mastery of German literature. He candidly recounts his childhood, drawing a portrait of his parents and brothers, his fellow townsmen, and his teachers. He describes in detail their divergent responses to Hitler's rise. Some joined the party willingly, even enthusiastically. Others simply gave in to the tenor of the time, and a notable few remained steadfast in their refusal to conform to the dominant ideology. Fackenheim remembers warmly those who opposed Nazism. In narrating his own story, he describes how external events impacted him and his own response to oppression. Likewise, he recalls the moment when his parents realized that Jewish life in Germany had ended.

The first of several "journeys" for Fackenheim was from Halle to Berlin, beginning when he left home to study for the rabbinate at the Hochschule für jü dische Wissenschaft. One does not sense that the rabbinate was his calling or that he was particularly devout, but his response to Nazism was decisive: he turned toward the traditions of his people, if not to their God. Still, he did not turn away from German philosophy. Among his teachers in Berlin was Rabbi Leo Baeck, who was venerated for his dignity and courage. As the leader of the German Jewish community, Baeck continued to teach, first in Berlin and even in Theresienstadt. Fackenheim was also—though less directly—engaged with Martin Buber, who remained influential as a teacher and a spiritual leader. As the situation of German Jewry deteriorated, Fackenheim's commitment to Judaism and Jewish tradition only deepened.

Following the pogrom known as Kristallnacht, Fackenheim was arrested and sent to Sachsenhausen—the start of his second formative journey. At that time, it still was possible for an inmate to be released from a concentration camp if he or she was able to obtain a visa to leave Germany. Fackenheim arranged to go to Scotland. His ordination exams were hastily arranged and he departed seemingly at the last possible moment. His parents were also able to leave Germany just in time, but his brother and most of his close relatives were not so fortunate. Once the war began, Fackenheim was interned in Scotland as an enemy alien; at the time the British could not distinguish between enemy aliens loyal to the German regime and German Jews who wanted nothing to do with a Nazified Germany. Asked by his honorable teacher to return to Germany after the war, Fackenheim was resolute; he would serve the Jews, but would not help to rebuild Germany. Two generations later, he did return to Germany—to engage the grandchildren of the perpetrators.

His third journey—to the New World—began inauspiciously with his incarceration in Canada. The British authorities transferred him there from Scotland with the idea of keeping this enemy alien far from areas subject to imminent invasion. Soon, the Canadian authorities came to understand the absurdity of the situation and Fackenheim was freed. A sojourn in Hamilton, where he served as a rabbi during the wartime years, was followed by a distinguished academic career at the University of Toronto. He served in the Department of Philosophy until his retirement, teaching both German and Jewish philosophy...