Holocaust Poetry - Softcover

Schiff, Hilda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312143575 ISBN 13: 9780312143572

Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL, 2000

Synopsis

Collecting 119 poems on subjects that are indelibly linked with the Holocaust, Holocaust Poetry commemorates the sanctity of those who have died - both Jews and non-Jews - during World War II. A solemn affirmation of our survival as men and women, this volume not only pays homage to the past but attests to the struggles that we, as human beings, still face - often quite brutally - from day to day. The 59 contributors range from world-renowned writers to the voices of poets who are relatively unknown. Also preserved here are the poems of those who have perished, the unknown soldiers, the unheralded heroes, whose lives can only be recorded today by the moving words they left behind.

About this title

Product Description:

Holocaust Poetry Collecting 119 poems on subjects that are indelibly linked with the Holocaust, Holocaust Poetry commemorates the sanctity of those who have died - both Jews and non-Jews - during World War II. A solemn affirmation of our survival as men and women, this volume not only pays homage to the past but attests to the struggles that we, as human beings, still face - often quite brutally - from day to day.... Full description

Review:

"The power of verse to encompass a topic of mammoth scope and render it into painstakingly personal detail is keenly demonstrated in this absorbing and well thought-out anthology of grief." --Publishers Weekly

"Can there be poetry about the Holocaust? Isn't this kind of writing an attempt to escape--or to exploit--the suffering of millions? Poet and anthologist Schiff confronts these questions in her eloquent introduction. One answer she finds is that to remain silent is also to lie. Fifty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, great literature about the Holocaust has grown to a flood . . . The pieces here are of astonishing power. In English and in translation from many languages, [nearly 60] poets--including Wiesel, Fink, Brecht, Yevtushenko, Auden, and Sachs--give voice to what seems unspeakable. Schiff points out that compelling historical accounts document the facts and numbers, but a poem, like a story, makes us imagine how it felt for one person. These poems are stark and deceptively simple. No one can read them all at once. Each poem leaves you with an indelible memory. In words of one syllable, the Polish poet Rozewicz writes about having to reinvent language after Auschwitz ("this is a man / this is a tree this is bread" ). There's no healing in this tragedy: the last poem, by Primo Levi, is like a shout of rage to us to remember." --Hazel Rochman, Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312143575
• ISBN 13: 9780312143572
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 258