Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies reviews Auschwitz

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

“Heuner (sic) has done a masterful job...He has done his homework; he knows the history of the site and its diverse functions. He understands the politics of Poland and its diverse struggles throughout the Communist era. He is keenly insightful into the nature of Polish nationalism and the competing contents of that nationalism, the tension between the Church and the State, the relationship of the Communist state to its pre–Communist past, and the manner in which the site of Auschwitz was also an expression of Polish attitudes toward the Jews and towards Israel, toward the outside world and toward America.”

“A fine scholar, seemingly without an axe to grind, Heuner is scrupulous and serious. He has no interest in journalistic sensationalism, but deep interest in how historical events are interpreted to the public.”

“The book is all that one could expect, well researched and well written, reasonable to a fault, documented fully and explained carefully. All who care about the Holocaust and most especially about its iconographic site—the anti–sacred, sacred site—would do well to read this work, as would journalists who want to get beyond sensationalism and understand the roots of the controversies that have exploded from time to time and added so much tensions to Polish–Jewish relations and to the tension between Polish nationalism and the Polish state.”

Shofar
Vol. 23, No. 4
2005