Jean Améry, Commemoration and Comparative Engagement

2016 marks the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Jean Améry’s collection of essays dealing with his experiences at (and in the aftermath of) Auschwitz entitled Jenseits von Schuld und Sühne: Bewältigungsversuche eines Überwältigten. Translated into English as At The Mind’s Limits: Contemplations By A Survivor On Auschwitz And Its Realities, Améry’s collection immediately set a standard for philosophical accounts of the camps that even today remains unchanged. More uncompromising than the texts of Wiesenthal, Levi, Borowski, and Wiesel, Améry’s collection philosophically explores the extreme limit of the survivor’s experience in the camps as well as the ensuing trauma of living in its wake.