‘These papers had too many memories. So I burned them’: Holocaust diaries, diarists, and their afterlives

Diaries have long been considered crucial sources for documenting the fate of European Jews during the Holocaust. However, unlike retrospective accounts, Holocaust diaries are often published by individuals other than the author. This article examines the publication history of Holocaust diaries in English translation, and how the transition from private text to public artifact is framed by editors and family members in prefaces, afterwords, and interviews. An important discourse is identified: a tension between a perceived moral imperative to share and publish the diary, on the one hand, and the pain and vulnerability that ensues with publication, on the other.