National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education Publishes The Memory of Goodness

The Seton Hill University National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE) this spring published a book featuring the essays of the late Holocaust scholar Eva Fleischner.

The Memory of Goodness contains probing essays by Fleischner, a dedicated Catholic who became a remarkable, pioneering Holocaust scholar and educator.

Publication of the book was made possible by a leadership commitment from the late Hans Fleischner and his wife, Leslie – the brother and sister-in-law of Eva Fleischner. The Fleischnersʼ gift to Seton Hill has enabled the University to expand programming around Holocaust education, including the publication of The Memory of Goodness, the filming of oral histories of Holocaust survivors, and the establishment of the Eva Fleischner Program on Truth Finding.

A book signing was held on April 6 with one of the bookʼs editors, Carol Rittner, along with Chris Fleischner, Evaʼs nephew and the son of Hans and Leslie, in attendance.

The Memory of Goodness gathers Fleischnerʼs writings from the diverse books and journals in which they originally appeared. The writings focus on teaching, rescue and responsibility and Jewish-Christian relations – the fields in which Fleischner made her most important contributions to Holocaust studies. They reveal Fleischnerʼs fierce and unrelenting determination to affirm the inclusive religious pluralism that flourishing post-Holocaust respect between Christians and Jews requires.

“Eva Fleischner was a dear friend of Seton Hill University and the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education and dedicated her life to educating the world about the horrors of the Holocaust and the ways that Christians were complicit,” said Dr. James Paharik, Director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education. “We are honored to be able to present her work in a comprehensive form through the publication of The Memory of Goodness, and we hope that her words will serve as a reminder to people today and in the future of the deadly toll that disinformation and hatred takes on humankind.”

The Memory of Goodness was edited by Holocaust scholars Carol Rittner and John K. Roth, who have published many books together, including most recently Advancing Holocaust Studies. Rittner is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor Emerita of Holocaust Studies at Stockton University. Roth is Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Founding Director, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights (now the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights) at Claremont McKenna College.