Introduction to Buried Words: sexuality, violence and Holocaust testimonies

Abstract

The introduction to this Special Issue on sexuality and sexual violence in Holocaust testimonies sets out the origins of the volume and the themes and contributions of the articles therein. The impetus for this Special Issue was a 2018 conference organized by the Azrieli Foundation’s Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program, a Canadian publishing program whose growing collection of testimonies includes accounts of sexual abuse and violence experienced in different settings during the Holocaust. Particular attention is given to the 2017 publication of Buried Words: The Diary of Molly Applebaum, by Toronto-based survivor Molly Applebaum.