In Poetry of the Holocaust, the editors Jean Boase-Beier and Marian de Vooght (helped by many translators, advisors, and experts of one sort and another) aim to give a fuller picture than do most Holocaust anthologies of the poetry that arose from the Holocaust. Here there are poems from languages that are less often associated with the Holocaust (such as Norwegian or Japanese) and there are poems by or about those victimised for perceived disabilities, or because they were gay, or because their political or religious beliefs made them targets of Nazi hatred.
It is of course not possible to cover the vast range of Holocaust poetry in one small anthology. But a wider-ranging collection such as this might help readers who are less familiar with the facts of the Holocaust to find a way in, and to empathise on an individual level with the many people who suffered, and are still suffering. And perhaps – because poetry engages the reader’s emotions in a way that documentary writing cannot – it might also help us examine our thoughts and ways of behaving.
