ABSTRACT
The Jews of Europe sustained and absorbed the most monstrous tragedy of history upon their persons corporeally. And the entire body of the Jewish people, still staggering from the blow, tries to come to terms with it, endeavors to understand it and integrate its meaning into its scarred consciousness. Three decades have elapsed since the Holocaust was doused by the allied forces and its charred embers swept away and gathered in other parts of the world. But survivors continue to reel from the shock waves bearing off the continent of Europe whose widening orbits reach every Jewish community of the world and virtually every Jew within them. In the absence of studies on general Jewish attitudes, the thoughtful and often deeply moving testimonies of survivors provide us with important insights into the nature of Judaism in the post-Holocaust world. Jewish history has shown that previous disasters affected both Judaism and the Jewish people.
