What a talented, compassionate, and wise young woman! In her writing, she has given a great gift to the world. Perhaps the most telling comments for our society today come from Mr. Bellos' closing words: "It was just as impossible for Helene Berr to know what Auschwitz meant as it is impossible for us not to know. Her Journal is overshadowed by dramatic irony worthy of Sophocles. We should resist the temptation of wishing that the young woman had understood sooner and drawn the conclusions that, with the hindsight we cannot now disown, we think we would have reached in time. Smugness is not a useful reaction to this searing work. We should rather pause and ask: Are we sure we know what is going on before our eyes?"
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