Saul Friedlander Quotes & Sayings

One of the characteristics of kitsch is precisely the neutralization of 'extreme situations', particularly death, by turning them into some sentimental idyll. — Saul Friedlander

Susannah Heschel's The Aryan Jesus is a brilliant and erudite investigation of the convergence between major trends in German Protestantism and Nazi racial anti-Semitism. By concentrating on the history of the Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life, Heschel describes in forceful detail the Nazification of all aspects of Protestant theology, including the Aryanization of Jesus himself. This is a highly original and important contribution to our understanding of the Third Reich. — Saul Friedlander

Perhaps the essence of tradition, it's ultimate justification, is to comfort, to bring a small measure of dreams, a brief instance of illusion, to a moment when every real avenue of escape is cut off, when there is no longer any recourse. — Saul Friedlander

Facing the kitsch aesthetic is the unfathomable world of myths. — Saul Friedlander

There is a kitsch of death. For example, death transformed into sweet sleep: The 'good night, sweet prince' of the last scene of Hamlet. — Saul Friedlander