Despite the Holocaust’s profound impact on the history of Eastern Europe; the communist regimes successfully repressed public discourse about and memory of this tragedy. Since the collapse of communism in 1989; however; this has changed. Not only has a wealth of archival sources become available; but there have also been oral history projects and interviews recording the testimonies of eyewitnesses who experienced the Holocaust as children and young adults. Recent political; social; and cultural developments have facilitated a more nuanced and complex understanding of the continuities and discontinuities in representations of the Holocaust. People are beginning to realize the significant role that memory of Holocaust plays in contemporary discussions of national identity in Eastern Europe. This volume of original essays explores the memory of the Holocaust and the Jewish past in postcommunist Eastern Europe. Devoting space to every postcommunist country; the essays in Bringing the Dark Past to Light explore how the memory of the “dark pasts†of Eastern European nations is being recollected and reworked. In addition; it examines how this memory shapes the collective identities and the social identity of ethnic and national minorities. Memory of the Holocaust has practical implications regarding the current development of national cultures and international relationships.
#450530 in Books 2010-02-22Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .70 x 6.00l; .85 #File Name: 080286435X276 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Clifford BriggsJust as promised40 of 44 people found the following review helpful. Superb! Reads like a Mystery!By Dr. Marc AxelrodThis is a very well written discussion of the Dead Sea Scrolls pitched at a popular level. You learn about the 1947 discoveries in cave 1 (The Isaiah scrolls; the Manual of Discipline; and the Nahum commentaries. You also learn about the later discoveries in cave 4 especially; which was the mother lode; with over 900 scrolls and artifacts. Treasure buffs will marvel at the discovery of the Copper Scroll; which tells of buried treasure near Qumran; but to this day; no one has found the treasure; which some surmise has already been raided and recovered.Work continues on the scrolls to this day. Fantastic links with the Jewish and early Christian communities have been made. Both the Qumran Essenes and the early Christians revered the books of Isaiah; Psalms; and Deuteronomy; for these are three most quoted books in both the New Testament and in the Scrolls.It is unclear as to whether or not the Qumran community ever allowed marriage and if they believed in one or two messiahs. We also glean some possible tensions between the Qumran Teach of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest of the Maccabean era; which may have prompted the Teacher tomove his community to the Qumran wilderness.This is a great read and a very helpful primer to the Dead Sea Scrolls. You should read it before you go to see them at a Museum near you.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Fantastic; informative read. Very well written and accessible.By Calvin MarshallFantastic book and well written. Dr. VanderKam does a fantastic job of taking a complicated subject and making it accessible to a wide audience. I really appreciate how he not only presents the consensus of scholarship on a given question but presents why the evidence supports or does not support a given hypothesis.
