My Aunt Edith Stein: Oral History Event with Susanne Batzdorff

May 15, 2011

Edith Stein, Carmel of Echt, Netherlands, ca. 1940. Edith Stein was Susanne Batzdorff’s aunt, her mother’s younger sister. Edith was a renowned philosopher, lectured all over Europe, and wrote many books and articles. She converted to Catholicism and in 1933 entered a Carmelite convent in Cologne, Germany. Edith was transferred to Holland after Kristallnacht because the Cologne Carmel felt that both the community and Edith would be safer if she left Germany. When the Germans conquered Holland, both she and her older sister Rosa, who had joined her in Holland, were deported to Auschwitz and gassed. Edith Stein was canonized by Pope John Paul II in Oct. 1998 and later named a Patroness of Europe. Her many literary works are now being published in 26 volumes and many of them have appeared in English translation. Susanne will tell you more of the dramatic story of her Aunt Edith and her impact on her Jewish family. She will also read from her book, Aunt Edith: The Jewish Heritage of a Catholic Saint.