The Ethics of Witnessing

"It is a trailblazing work…The Ethics of Witnessing by Rachel Brenner will undoubtedly become one of the most important frames of reference in future research of Polish attitudes toward the Holocaust. The author’s scholarly passion, buttressed by erudition and research skills, result in a book that cannot be ignored by anyone addressing the subjects raised within it." —Yad Vashem

"This is an excellent book that deserves to be widely read."  —Slavic Review

"…a fascinating inquiry into the almost unbearable pressure to which [the Holocaust] subjected individuals’ sense of empathy." —Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"Brenner’s textual analysis is most impressive…The Ethics of Witnessing is an important and most welcome contribution and a must- read for everyone interested in the growing field of witnessing the genocide in wartime Eastern Europe, the well- established literature on Holocaust testimony, and the study of relations between Jews and non- Jews in occupied Poland." —The Polish Review

"Language and words took on new meanings during the Holocaust. The act of writing a diary took on new meanings as well. Rachel Feldhay Brenner’s The Ethics of Witnessing: The Holocaust in Polish Writers’ Diaries from Warsaw, 1939-1945 offers a glimpse into one of these new meanings of bearing witness as a 'non-victim' through her examination of these five Polish writers’ diaries." —SHOFAR