Holocaust Letters
Methodologies, Cases and Reflections
Will be published approx. on 19. February 2026
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-350-47534-2 (ISBN)
Description
Throughout the Holocaust, letters were sent in their millions, in a variety of different contexts and for a range of differing purposes. Holocaust Letters marks the first volume of its kind to examine collectively letter writing during this period. The book presents different methodological approaches to letters as texts, material objects and markers of memory, and outlines a range of different case studies using letters as sources in practice. Emerging from the exhibition of the same name held at The Wiener Holocaust Library (UK), the authors in this volumeuse letters to gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust and the post-war period in Western and Central Europe, and transnational humanitarian efforts in the UK and North Africa.
Holocaust Letters also presents a series of short source critiques of individual letters and small collections of letters, with insightful analysis of a variety of different types of letters to be found throughout. In whatever form they occur, Holocaust-era letters are witness not only to what happened and to whom but contain valuable evidence of how and, crucially, why the events that came to be known as the Holocaust occurred.
Holocaust Letters also presents a series of short source critiques of individual letters and small collections of letters, with insightful analysis of a variety of different types of letters to be found throughout. In whatever form they occur, Holocaust-era letters are witness not only to what happened and to whom but contain valuable evidence of how and, crucially, why the events that came to be known as the Holocaust occurred.
Reviews / Votes
This book provides a fascinating deep dive into Holocaust letters both as texts and material objects. The letters, which are all too often the last words of the Jewish victims, reveal how people were able to make sense of their suffering. The essays in this volume open up valuable new perspectives about the Holocaust. * Zoe Waxman, Professor of Holocaust History, University of Oxford, UK * This innovative and engaging volume offers fresh insights into key issues in Holocaust research. Synthesizing a field that has only begun to develop systematically in the past decade or two, the articles present original approaches to core methodological questions regarding the use of letters, promising to advance the field in the years ahead. * Guy Miron, Professor, Open University of Israel, Israel *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
11 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-350-47534-2 (9781350475342)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Clara Dijkstra has a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, UK.
Charlie Knight is a Visiting Fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK.
Sandra Lipner is a Research Fellow at the UCL Centre for Collective Violence, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies, UK.
Christine Schmidt is Deputy Director and Head of Research at The Wiener Holocaust Library, UK.
Charlie Knight is a Visiting Fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK.
Sandra Lipner is a Research Fellow at the UCL Centre for Collective Violence, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies, UK.
Christine Schmidt is Deputy Director and Head of Research at The Wiener Holocaust Library, UK.
Content
Foreword Joachim Schloer (University of Southampton, UK)
Editors' Introduction
1. Letters as Sources in Holocaust Studies Maria Ferenc (Jewish Historical Institute, Poland) and Shirli Gilbert (UCL, UK)
Part 1 - Methodological Considerations
2. Refugee Letters: Methodological considerations Hannah Holtschneider (University of Edinburgh, UK)
3. 'Flat objects': Letters, material culture and embodied family history Christine Schmidt (The Wiener Holocaust Library, UK)
4. 'I no longer have the strength to think and yet': Paul Leon's letters from Drancy and Compiegne Xander Ryan (University of Reading, UK)
5. Emotions as Societal Seismographs in the Letters of Heinrich and Annemarie Brenzinger Sandra Lipner (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
6. Analysing the Role of the Narrator in Private Correspondences: War experiences narrated as spaces Sophie Bayer Blears (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Part 2 - Letters in Holocaust Research
7. The Experience of Jewish Motherhood in Drancy Clara Dijkstra (University of Cambridge, UK)
8. The Piano, Lectures, and Business: Reflections of ordinary life and persecution in Hungarian labour service letters Barnabas Balint (University of Oxford, UK)
9. To the Letter? The correspondence of the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and Anglo-Jewish Relief in North Africa and Europe, 1943-1945 Roxy Moore (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
10. 'My dearest Stella': Witnessing the aftermath of the Holocaust in the letters of a British relief worker Rob Thompson (UCL, UK)
Part 3 - Reflections on the Source
11. Reading the Letter: Reflections on the researcher's journey Charlie Knight (University of Southampton, UK)
12. The Exhibition 'Holocaust Letters' at The Wiener Holocaust Library Sandra Lipner (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) and Christine Schmidt (The Wiener Holocaust Library, UK)
13. Never Together Again: Reconstructing a narrative Deborah Jaffe (Independent Scholar, UK) and Ricarda Vidal (Kings College London, UK)
Part 4 - Letters in the Spotlight
14. Dispatch from an Aryanised Business: Otto Poetsch writes to Leo Anker, Danzig, 31 August 1939 Joseph Cronin (Leo Baeck Institute London, UK)
15. Briefaktion letters from Auschwitz-Birkenau Jennifer Putnam (Birkbeck College, University of London, UK)
16. 'She must have signed it in that yellow-star-world': Mrs. Arpad Seres's restitution letter Borbala Klacsmann (University College Dublin, Ireland)
17. 'Leb wohl, mein Lieber': Examining familial dynamics in exile through the everydayness of the migrant love letter Elizabeth Lamle (University of Birmingham, UK)
Bibliography
Index
Editors' Introduction
1. Letters as Sources in Holocaust Studies Maria Ferenc (Jewish Historical Institute, Poland) and Shirli Gilbert (UCL, UK)
Part 1 - Methodological Considerations
2. Refugee Letters: Methodological considerations Hannah Holtschneider (University of Edinburgh, UK)
3. 'Flat objects': Letters, material culture and embodied family history Christine Schmidt (The Wiener Holocaust Library, UK)
4. 'I no longer have the strength to think and yet': Paul Leon's letters from Drancy and Compiegne Xander Ryan (University of Reading, UK)
5. Emotions as Societal Seismographs in the Letters of Heinrich and Annemarie Brenzinger Sandra Lipner (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
6. Analysing the Role of the Narrator in Private Correspondences: War experiences narrated as spaces Sophie Bayer Blears (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Part 2 - Letters in Holocaust Research
7. The Experience of Jewish Motherhood in Drancy Clara Dijkstra (University of Cambridge, UK)
8. The Piano, Lectures, and Business: Reflections of ordinary life and persecution in Hungarian labour service letters Barnabas Balint (University of Oxford, UK)
9. To the Letter? The correspondence of the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and Anglo-Jewish Relief in North Africa and Europe, 1943-1945 Roxy Moore (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
10. 'My dearest Stella': Witnessing the aftermath of the Holocaust in the letters of a British relief worker Rob Thompson (UCL, UK)
Part 3 - Reflections on the Source
11. Reading the Letter: Reflections on the researcher's journey Charlie Knight (University of Southampton, UK)
12. The Exhibition 'Holocaust Letters' at The Wiener Holocaust Library Sandra Lipner (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) and Christine Schmidt (The Wiener Holocaust Library, UK)
13. Never Together Again: Reconstructing a narrative Deborah Jaffe (Independent Scholar, UK) and Ricarda Vidal (Kings College London, UK)
Part 4 - Letters in the Spotlight
14. Dispatch from an Aryanised Business: Otto Poetsch writes to Leo Anker, Danzig, 31 August 1939 Joseph Cronin (Leo Baeck Institute London, UK)
15. Briefaktion letters from Auschwitz-Birkenau Jennifer Putnam (Birkbeck College, University of London, UK)
16. 'She must have signed it in that yellow-star-world': Mrs. Arpad Seres's restitution letter Borbala Klacsmann (University College Dublin, Ireland)
17. 'Leb wohl, mein Lieber': Examining familial dynamics in exile through the everydayness of the migrant love letter Elizabeth Lamle (University of Birmingham, UK)
Bibliography
Index