The Blessed Abyss

Download or read book The Blessed Abyss written by Nanda Herbermann and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2000-09-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One woman’s memories of her deportation to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp for Women in July 1941. On February 4, 1941, Nanda Herbermann, a German Catholic writer and editor, was arrested by the Gestapo in Münster, Germany. Accused of collaboration with the Catholic movement, Herbermann was deported to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp for Women in July 1941 and later released upon direct orders from Heinrich Himmler on March 19, 1943. Although she was instructed by the Gestapo not to reveal information about the camp, Herbermann soon began to record her memories of her experiences. The Blessed Abyss was originally published in German under the imprint of the Allied occupation forces in 1946, and it now appears in English for the first time. Hester Baer and Elizabeth Baer include an extensive introduction that situates Herbermann's work within current debates about gender and the Holocaust and provides historical and biographical information about Herbermann, Ravensbrück, and the Third Reich.