Dr Simon Holloway

During the Holocaust, many Jews committed ideas to writing. In some instances, those documents were meant for a broad readership; in others, they were part of a private correspondence. Sometimes, people committed writings to posterity; at other times, they wrote solely for themselves. When considering their documents (letters and diary entries in particular), one finds a striking number of biblical and rabbinic quotations. These are at times simply features of the language: Yiddish and Hebrew both employ common turns of phrase whose origin lies in sacred scripture. At other times, writers are aware of their deployment of scriptural quotations, and do so for rhetorical effect, in order to make or to underscore a point. In other instances still, the use of a quote can serve as a type of code, perhaps enabling the author to say something that one who intercepts the letter will not understand. This lecture will look at different examples of documents produced during the Holocaust, identifying the range of ways that the Bible in particular was quoted, and seeking to gain a deeper insight into the character of those for whom it was important.

Dr Simon Holloway holds a PhD from the University of Sydney in Classical Hebrew and Biblical Studies, and has worked closely with Holocaust survivors at the Sydney Jewish Museum in his position as Education Officer. He is currently Head of Education at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, and is the President of the Fellowship for Biblical Studies.