Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Warsaw [4]

Just learned that Saul Friedlander has won the Pulitzer Prize for his magnificent work, The Years of Extermination, Nazi Germany and the Jews 1941-45.

A few hours ago I told the Wexner group that it was a magisterial work. I am delighted that the Pulitzer committee recognized the greatness of this work.

It's also nice to learn of this when one is at the site of this tragedy.

It's an overwhelming book, rich in information, beautifully written, and a synthesis of the research of others which is woven together with Friedlander's own insights.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

His book has just been translated into French. I heard him, the other day, in a talk show on the French public radio "France Culture", among a lot of praise.

Unknown said...

In that talk show (1) he talked about his experience teaching the Holocaust in Israeli and American universities. He said that it was interesting, when teaching in America, to find emotional reactions among students whose families come from parts of the world far from Europe, like Asian Americans. He remembers a Native American student who reacted when he talked about the "Jewish reserve" created by the nazis near Lublin, asking whether "reserve" was the actual wording used by the nazis.

(1) http://www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-culture2/emissions/matins/fiche.php?diffusion_id=61158