Harry Cargas bol americký učenec a autor, najlepšie známy svým písaním a výskumom o holokauste, židovsko-katolíckych vzťahoch a americkej literatúre. Jeho diela sa často zaoberali etickými a filozofickými otázkami vyplývajúcimi z týchto tém, skúmajúc vplyv histórie na ľudskú psychiku. Cargasov prístup k písaniu bol hlboko empatický a jeho texty sa vyznačovali snahou o porozumenie a dialóg medzi rôznymi skupinami. Jeho literárne dedičstvo spočíva v schopnosti podnecovať kritické myslenie a podporovať súcit pri konfrontácii s tragickými udalosťami.
V knize amerického autora Cargasse Witnesses of Catastrophe (Svědkové katastrofy) o židovském holocaustu byl zveřejněn také rozhovor s českým spisovatelem Arnoštem Lustigem, jehož překlad obsahuje tato kniha. Spolu s tímto rozhovorem je zde publikován rovněž poprvé Lustigův esej o Auschwitz- Birkenau.
This is an intense and moving dialogue rising out of the Holocaust and extending to the crucial issues of the present. Noted author and teacher Harry James Cargas probes the existence and meaning of good and evil, love and hatred, bigotry and openness with Nobel Laureate, writer, and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. The result is an in-depth and fascinating look into the religious, literary, and private views of one of the major religious figures of our time.
If you had a chance to speak to the Pope, what would you say? This is the question that 13 noted Holocaust scholars―Christians of various denominations and Jews (including some Holocaust survivors)―address in this volume. The Holocaust was a Christian as well as a Jewish tragedy; nonetheless, the Roman Catholic hierarchy has offered very little official discourse on the Church's role in it. These essays provide solid constructive criticism and make a major contribution to both Holocaust and Christian studies.
In Problems Unique to the Holocaust, today's leading Holocaust scholars examine the difficult questions surrounding this terrible chapter in world history. Is it ever legitimate to betray others to save yourself? If a group of Jews is hiding behind a wall and a baby begins to cry, should an adult smother the child to protect the safety of the others? Should the men and women who took their own lives in the face of the Nazi onslaught be considered suicide or murder victims? How guilty are the bystanders who saw what was happening but did nothing to aid the victims of persecution?