Against Indifference: Four Christian Responses to Jewish Suffering during the Holocaust (C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, André and Magda Trocmé)

190 Pages·2015·0.614 MB·English

by  Carole J. Lambert

Lambert_cpi_cb_NealArthur.qxd 8/2/2015 9:17 PM Page 1
Against Indifference analyzes four responses to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust, mov- L P E T E R L A N G
a
ing on a spectrum from indifference to courageous action. C. S. Lewis did little to speak m
up for victimized Jews; Thomas Merton chose to enclose himself in a monastery to pray b
for and expiate the sins of a world gone awry; Dietrich Bonhoeffer acted to help his twin e
r
sister, her Jewish husband, and some other Jews escape from Germany; and the Trocmés t
established protective housing and an ongoing “underground railroad” that saved several
thousand Jewish lives. Why such variation in the responses of those who had commit-
ted their lives to Jesus Christ and recognized that His prime commandment is to love God
and others? This book provides answers to this question that help shed light on current Against
Christians and their commitment to victims who suffer and need their help.
“C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and André and Magda Trocmé are
key twentieth-century Christians, as different as they have been influential. Viewing
them through Holocaust-related lenses, Carole J. Lambert’s Against Indifferenceshows Indifference
brilliantly how their responses to Jewish suffering ranged from ‘minimal action to
A
maximal intervention’ and underscores passionately what her twenty-first century
g
readers most need to learn from those revelations.”—John K. Roth, Edward J. Sexton
a
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College; Author, The Failures of i
n
Ethics: Confronting the Holocaust, Genocide, and Other Mass Atrocities FOUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO JEWISH
s
t
“This book will make you think—and weep. It is disturbing and inspiring, challeng- I SUFFERING DURING THE HOLOCAUST
n
ing and depressing all at the same time. Against Indifferencecalls into question comfortable
d (C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton,
ideas about what five well-known and beloved iconic Christians did, and did not do,
i
during the Holocaust. C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and André f Dietrich Bonhoeffer, André and Magda Trocmé)
f
e
and Magda Trocmé all lived during World War II and the Holocaust. They con-
r
fronted, in one way or another, the complex human question, which is also profoundly e
theological, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ And they all responded, more or less. And that pre- n
cisely is what makes this book so provocative. I highly recommend it. Read it if you c
dare.”—Carol Rittner, Distinguished Emerita Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies e
and Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor of Holocaust Studies, Stockton University, NJ
Carole J. Lambertis Professor of English at Azusa Pacific University in California. In
addition to four National Endowment for the Humanities grants, she was awarded a
Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Brussels, Belgium, and recently participated
in the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts Seminar. She is the author
of The Empty Cross: Medieval Hopes, Modern Futility in the Theater of Maurice Maeterlinck,
Paul Claudel, August Strindberg, and Georg Kaiser, Is God Man’s Friend? Theodicy and
Friendship in Elie Wiesel’s Novels, Ethics after Auschwitz? Primo Levi’s and Elie Wiesel’s
Response, as well as co-editor with William D. Brewer
of Essays on the Modern Identity and editor of Doing
Good, Departing from Evil: Research Findings in the Twenty-
P
E
First Century. She earned her Ph.D. in comparative lit- T
E
R
erature from the University of California, Berkeley, and L CAROLE J. LAMBERT
A
N
has been published widely in several journals. G
www.peterlang.com
Lambert_cpi_cb_NealArthur.qxd 8/2/2015 9:17 PM Page 1
Against Indifference analyzes four responses to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust, mov- L P E T E R L A N G
a
ing on a spectrum from indifference to courageous action. C. S. Lewis did little to speak m
up for victimized Jews; Thomas Merton chose to enclose himself in a monastery to pray b
for and expiate the sins of a world gone awry; Dietrich Bonhoeffer acted to help his twin e
r
sister, her Jewish husband, and some other Jews escape from Germany; and the Trocmés t
established protective housing and an ongoing “underground railroad” that saved several
thousand Jewish lives. Why such variation in the responses of those who had commit-
ted their lives to Jesus Christ and recognized that His prime commandment is to love God
and others? This book provides answers to this question that help shed light on current Against
Christians and their commitment to victims who suffer and need their help.
“C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and André and Magda Trocmé are
key twentieth-century Christians, as different as they have been influential. Viewing
them through Holocaust-related lenses, Carole J. Lambert’s Against Indifferenceshows Indifference
brilliantly how their responses to Jewish suffering ranged from ‘minimal action to
A
maximal intervention’ and underscores passionately what her twenty-first century
g
readers most need to learn from those revelations.”—John K. Roth, Edward J. Sexton
a
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College; Author, The Failures of i
n
Ethics: Confronting the Holocaust, Genocide, and Other Mass Atrocities FOUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO JEWISH
s
t
“This book will make you think—and weep. It is disturbing and inspiring, challeng- I SUFFERING DURING THE HOLOCAUST
n
ing and depressing all at the same time. Against Indifferencecalls into question comfortable
d (C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton,
ideas about what five well-known and beloved iconic Christians did, and did not do,
i
during the Holocaust. C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and André f Dietrich Bonhoeffer, André and Magda Trocmé)
f
e
and Magda Trocmé all lived during World War II and the Holocaust. They con-
r
fronted, in one way or another, the complex human question, which is also profoundly e
theological, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ And they all responded, more or less. And that pre- n
cisely is what makes this book so provocative. I highly recommend it. Read it if you c
dare.”—Carol Rittner, Distinguished Emerita Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies e
and Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor of Holocaust Studies, Stockton University, NJ
Carole J. Lambertis Professor of English at Azusa Pacific University in California. In
addition to four National Endowment for the Humanities grants, she was awarded a
Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Brussels, Belgium, and recently participated
in the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts Seminar. She is the author
of The Empty Cross: Medieval Hopes, Modern Futility in the Theater of Maurice Maeterlinck,
Paul Claudel, August Strindberg, and Georg Kaiser, Is God Man’s Friend? Theodicy and
Friendship in Elie Wiesel’s Novels, Ethics after Auschwitz? Primo Levi’s and Elie Wiesel’s
Response, as well as co-editor with William D. Brewer
of Essays on the Modern Identity and editor of Doing
Good, Departing from Evil: Research Findings in the Twenty-
P
E
First Century. She earned her Ph.D. in comparative lit- T
E
R
erature from the University of California, Berkeley, and L CAROLE J. LAMBERT
A
N
has been published widely in several journals. G
Against Indifference
PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
CAROLE J. LAMBERT

Against Indifference

FOUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO JEWISH
SUFFERING DURING THE HOLOCAUST
(C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, André and Magda Trocmé)

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lambert, Carole J., author.
Against indifference: four Christian responses to Jewish suffering
during the Holocaust (C.S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
André and Magda Trocmé) / Carole J. Lambert.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Judaism—Relations—Christianity. 2. Christianity and other religions—Judaism.
3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Religious aspects—Christianity.
4. Christianity and antisemitism—History—20th century.
5. Holocaust (Christian theology).
BM535.L257 231.7’65—dc23 2015003546
ISBN 978-1-4331-2767-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1569-1 (e-book)

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

© 2015 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
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All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
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For my most beloved husband of forty-eight years and favorite research assistant:
David Eugene Lambert

table of contents
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
Chapter 2. C. S. Lewis 17
Chapter 3. Thomas Merton 51
Chapter 4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer 83
Chapter 5. André and Magda Trocmé 117
Chapter 6. Conclusion 149
Index 165