Holocaust and Nature

This volume makes clear how Nazism was not only an attack on the human species and the Jewish people in particular, but also an attack on nature. Further, it examines the victims of the Holocaust for whom nature was not only a source of supplementary pain, but also a source of hope and redemption. It reveals parallels between the attitudes of the bystanders during the Holocaust and us - bystanders today - watching the ecological disaster with the same passivity. The unique conclusion of this book will challenge each reader: in addition to teaching us to be critical about our concepts of nature as well as to remember the victims, the Holocaust also teaches us to become rescuers rather than bystanders in light of the contemporary destruction of nature.

Didier Pollefeyt is full professor and vice dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and he is the chair of the Center for Peace Ethics at the KU Leuven.