Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
On Disbelieving Atrocities
We, the screamers, have been at it now for about ten years. We started on the night when the epileptic van der Lubbe set fire to the German Parliament; we said that if you don’t quench those flames at…
The Last Days of the Jerusalem of Lithuania: Chronicles from the Vilna Ghetto and the Camps
I weep, and am amazed. I have seen death so many times and have controlled myself. Have experienced so much torment, disgrace, and humiliation, and…
Six Months under the Boot
One more incident.
A woman shows up at the president’s office and demands the immediate return of her son, who is working in Djelloula, in the Italian sector.
It is impossible to reason…
Reflections on V-E Day
Not with surprising suddenness did it come; it did not come—as in the dark days we had hoped it would—as a miraculous flash on a radio, a startling announcement lifting us from the depths of despair…
My Friends from Arnon Street
Arnon Street is not the largest street in Tel Aviv. On the contrary, it is a small street, nearly an alleyway. There is very little traffic. A double-decker bus does not go through it, or any other…
Donna Donna
On a wagon, bound for market
There’s a calf with a mournful eye
High above her, there’s a swallow
Winging swiftly through the sky
How the winds are laughing
They laugh with all their might
Laugh…
Census
Dense crowds proceed at dawn
Through Theresienstadt’s still empty streets
Five abreast curving around corners into squares.
The beast checks if anybody has stumbled.
Today God’s chosen people are…
Painting and Sculpture in Israel
It is not enough to see a statue. A statue has to be sensed with the fingertips. In our imagination we touch the statue, caress it, examine its rounded and hollow surfaces, and by doing so our sense…
A Letter from Mama Camouna
Not long after Sammy’s visit, my father died after a long illness. My mother’s sorrow and mine were compounded by the fact that there were not ten men who had known him in his life to stand by his…
Hanna Senesh
[When the lights come up again we’re in a courtroom. Three colonels at the judges’ table. On one side, prosecutor Matzkas, and Simon, a military judge. On the other side defense attorney Devcsery. Opp…
Yaʻakobi & Leidental
[Leidental’s room. Evening. Leidental. One of his fingers is bandaged.]Leidental:[To himself.] At eight fifteen I felt I cannot any more with myself. I had: regulation misery, pain to top…
One Moment
One moment of silence, please. If you please. I
would like to say something. He walked
right past me. I could have touched the hem
of his mantle. I did not touch it. Who could have
known what I did…