Murder Most Merciful: Essays on the Ethical Conundrum Occasioned by Sigi Ziering's The Judgement of Herbert Bierhoff / Edition 1

by Michael Berenbaum director, Sigi Ziering In, Michael Berenbaum, Sigi Ziering, Gershon Greenberg, Robert Melson

Overview

Murder Most Merciful is a collection of insightful essays that consider Sigi Ziering's play, The Judgment of Herbert Bierhoff. In the play, Ziering tells the story of a loving father and his decision during the Holocaust to take the life of his beloved daughter to avoid her deportation. Scholars who have thought long and hard about the ethical implications of the Holocaust continue to grapple with the poignant questions Ziering raised.

Commentary from the book's diverse contributors, including Holocaust survivors, scholars, rabbis, philosophers, and historians, results in an insightful and provocative moral and theological exchange. Murder Most Merciful will stimulate further debate on the crucial issues of martyrdom, euthanasia, and the guilt of the innocent. Ultimately, the judgment of Herbert Bierhoff is for the reader to make. The book appears in the Studies in the Shoah series as volume 28.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761832034
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	03/31/2005
Series:	Studies in the Shoah Series , #28
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.54(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Michael Berenbaum, a writer and lecturer, is Professor of Theology (Adjunct) at the University of Judaism, and director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust. He holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from Florida State University. Dr. Berenbaum is President of the Berenbaum Group, a consulting firm specializing in the conceptual development of museums and the development of historical films. He is the former Project Director overseeing the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and former President and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Michael Berenbaum
Chapter 2 The Judgment of Herbert Bierhoff: Sigi Ziering
Chapter 3 Responses: Remember, but Do Not Resolve: Gershon Greenberg
Chapter 4 Shimon's Obsession: Robert Melson
Chapter 5 Despair, Murder, Death, Guilt, and Anger: Efraim Zuroff
Chapter 6 A Haunting Question: An Elusive Answer: Michael Berenbaum
Chapter 7 The Arms of Strangers: A Meditation on the Judgment of Herbert Bierhoff: John K. Roth
Chapter 8 Standing in Awe: Eugene Fisher
Chapter 9 Making Your Child a Martyr: Elliot N. Dorff
Chapter 10 The Judgment of the Nazis: Didier Pollefeyt
Chapter 11 Dream and Nightmare: Judging Herbert Bierhoff and Ourselves: Jonathan Freund
Chapter 12 Explanation, Understanding and Holding Holocaust Perpetrators Responsible: The Myth of the Slippery Slope to Exculpation: David H. Jones
Chapter 13 Those Left Behind: Rene Firestone
Chapter 14 An Interview with Sigi Ziering: Sigi Ziering
Chapter 15 Tribute: Roseanne Ziering
Chapter 16 Contributors
Chapter 17 Index