Life of Edith Stein Wrocław s Jewish community is one of the oldest in today s Poland, dating back to the 12th century when the city was an important trade centre along the Amber Road. Though consistently confronted with persecution, Jews have steadily played a role in the development of the city. By the end of the 19th century, in fact, the Jewish community was so well integrated into Breslau society that many Jews had achieved leading positions in academic and scientific circles; at the time, these men were not considered any less German than they were Jewish. Breslau (as it was then known) possessed the second largest synagogue in Germany and its Jewish community was the third largest in the country with numbers that had risen to 30,000 by the time Hitler came to power. It doesn t require much detail from us to know what befell Breslau s wartime Jewish population. The city was declared Jew Free in 1942. The city s once magnificent main synagogue - torched on Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938) says enough, with only a small memorial remembering where it once stood at ul. Łąkowa 6. German philosopher Edith Stein (1891-1942) was a leading proponent of the phenomenological school of thought led by Edmund Husserl in the first half of the twentieth century. She was a student of Edmund Husserl and a prominent supporter of his theories on phenomenology. Born into a Jewish family, Stein's search for spiritual truth led her first to atheism and later to the Roman Catholic Church, where she eventually became a Carmelite nun. She attempted to connect her philosophical and religious beliefs in her writings that discussed topics such as the role of women in the Catholic Church, Thomism, and the mysticism of St. John of the Cross. She is considered a martyr by both Jews and Catholics for her death in the concentration camps of the Nazi regime. Pre-WW2 map showing Breslau, Silesia, then part of Germany.
Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891, in Breslau, Germany. She was the youngest of eleven children born to Jewish lumber merchants hailing originally from Silesia (now part of Poland); four of her siblings had died before Stein's birth. Stein's father died when she was only a year old, leaving her mother, Auguste Stein, in charge of the debt-ridden business and the surviving children. She was a hardworking and successful, business woman and rebuilt the business. The house where Edith was born no longer exists but the larger house they lived in is there. Because her mother was required to devote most of her time to work outside the home, her oldest daughter, Else, took on much of the responsibility of raising the other chidren. As a child, Stein became known for her intelligence and sense of humor she would often recite poetry and make clever remarks. But she disliked her reputation as "the smart one" of the family and began to develop a more isolated, introspective nature in her early school days. She attended the Victoria School in Breslau, where she not only began classes early, but quickly became the best student in her grade. Her love of learning extended to her hours at home as well, where she spent much of her free time reading. Religious Crisis Led to Atheism At the age of 13, Stein underwent a crisis of faith and decided to leave school. Although she no longer believed in God, she did not discuss her beliefs with her family and continued to attend religious services. Thinking that she was suffering from poor health, her mother sent her to rest at the home of her sister Else, who had married and moved to Hamburg. After eight months in Hamburg, Stein came to terms with her new ideas and decided to devote her life to teaching and the pursuit of the truth. She returned to Victoria School and completed her coursework in anticipation of attending college. My cousin Erich was also at home. He was a year younger than I and had just begun the Oberprima. Now my successful Abitur was held up to him as a pattern: this was not at all to his liking. Once, thoroughly vexed because he had verified that I had read Part II of "Faust," he declared: 'People like you only have so much time to read because you're too lazy to take part in any sports!" [Erich either didn't know or had just conveniently forgotten she was an avid tennis player, as she noted earlier on in that same chapter.] Otherwise, we got along fine together. One afternoon when I returned from somewhere with my aunt, he and another young man were practicing some dance steps to the music of a record-player. As soon as Erich saw me, he asked me whether I could dance. My aunt scolded him for his audacity; but I was both happy and ready to show how accomplished I was. 2 Of 12
Thanks to Hans Biberstein [her tennis partner from earlier on!], I knew all the latest steps. Erich had to admit he was outclassed and remarked in sincere admiration: "A girl who's made her Abitur and been excused from the orals, who has read "Faust," and who can waltz around to the left, should be featured at the Hansa-Theater (the theater with the largest variety show in Chemnitz)! (182). University Bresleau She began her advanced education at the University of Breslau in 1911. In the hopes of gaining some insight into the mysteries of human experience and the soul, she took a psychology course, but was disappointed at its emphasis on quantitative experimentation. About this time she read the philosophical work "Logical Investigations" by Edmund Husserl. Husserl, who was a professor of philosophy at Gottingen University, was the founder of the school of thought known as phenomenology, an examination of the development of human consciousness. University Gottinger The book was a revelation to Stein, who decided that she wanted to study with Husserl himself. Instead of finishing her preparation for teaching, she persuaded her mother to finance her transfer to Gottingen, where she was one of the first female students to attend the university. There she found a group of philosophers who shared her interests, and she was encouraged by Husserl, who told her that the practice of phenomenology could lead her to the truth she sought. 3 Of 12
Became Leading Phenomenologist It was at Gttingen that Stein was first exposed to the Roman Catholic faith. A fellow student, Max Scheler, who was also a Jew by birth but would later convert to Catholicism, gave lectures on religious philosophy that introduced Stein to the tenets of the faith. Scheler's work involved the ranking of human values, and he placed religious values as the factor that defines humanity. While his teachings showed Stein the richness of the Christian faith, it also made her reflect on her own lack of religious beliefs and started her on her own search for religious meaning. She was also influenced in this thinking by another phenomenologist who converted to Christianity, Adolf Reinach. Nursing Volunteer With the beginning of World War I in 1914, Stein volunteered her services at a hospital that treated soldiers suffering from cholera, typhus, and dysentery. This experience made a deep impression on her and influenced her in her choice of topice for her doctorate The problem of entepathy. She left for the Red Cross work on April 7, 1915 and stayed at Mährisch-Weisskirchen in Moravia for about six months until a furlough and eventual release from service. 4 Of 12
On one occasion the arrival of a fresh transport kept us busy until late in the evening getting the new arrivals properly adjusted in traction. The officer's room which so far had housed only two occupants was now filled to capacity. Going down the corridor very late, I encountered a most remarkable transport: a gigantic figure lay stark naked on the gurney; a rimless pence-nez perched on the sharply aquiline nose; the head was resting on a red silk pillow. A Polish cavalry-captain was being transferred from the operating room to the officers' room. He had refused to allow them to put a hospital gown on him but had positively insisted that he retain those two items.... I was informed that the cavalry-captain required private nursing throughout the night... He was wide awake and gave orders in ringing tones which prevented the other officers from sleeping. They were half amused, half despairing... Repeatedly, my patient asked me to cool his hands and arms with water. Since I had no one else to care for during the night, I was able to perform for him any service he fancied. To be sure, when the other nurses arrived in the morning, I was free to leave to freshen up a bit. When I returned, I found everyone in an uproar. The badly wounded officer was a nobleman, the nephew of one of the government's ministers who had already inquired about his condition. One could not satisfy the patient. He made one impossible demand after another and filled everyone who approached him with mortal dread. It was time for one of the girls to bring him his breakfast. Not daring to do so, she asked me to take it for her. While she provided for the other officers, I went over to the fearsome one. "Good morning, little sister," he called out to me. Evidently what he recalled of my services during the night was pleasant. After we had left the room, the maid said to me in respectful awe: "He likes you, Sister. He called you 'Little Sister'." When I went back into the officers' room, a captain summoned me to his bedside. He had also come in only the night before. "Little Sister," he begged, "See to it that this fellow gets moved into another room. One hasn't got a moment's rest." The hospital closed a year later, and Stein returned to the university and completed her doctoral studies. She had selected the idea of empathy as the subject of her investigations in phenomenology, and Husserl was very impressed with her work. Although he had several distinguished students, including the philosopher Martin Heidegger, Husserl considered Stein to be the best student he had ever had. When in 1916 he took a professorship at the University of Freiburg, Husserl requested that Stein join him as his graduate assistant. That year she completed her doctoral dissertation, "The Problem of Empathy," and received her doctoral degree with honors. 5 Of 12
She was only the second woman in Germany to receive a doctorate.she was then hired as a faculty member at Freiburg, where she taught phenomenology and helped Husserl to edit his manuscripts. She was very successful at Freiburg and soon became known as a top philosopher at the university. Converted to Catholicism Stein's interest in Catholicism increased in 1917 with the death of her friend Reinach, who had been killed in battle at Flanders. She was approached by Reinach's widow, who asked her to organize her husband's academic papers. In Reinach's writings, she found many references to Jesus Christ, and this led her to read the New Testament. These experiences convinced Stein that she believed in God and the divinity of Jesus Christ, but she did not yet take steps to convert to an organized religion. She returned to her work in philosophy, applying to Gttingen to work as a professor. But the school's longstanding ban on female professors was upheld, despite a glowing recommendation from Husserl. Stein returned to Breslau in 1919 to teach and continue her research. It was during this period, in 1921, that she finally was inspired to commit to the Catholic Church. While visiting friends in Bergzabern, Germany, that summer, she discovered the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. She found herself unable to put down the book, and after spending a whole night reading it, she was certain that she was ready for conversion. She returned to her work in Breslau but came back to Bergzabern to be baptized on January 1, 1922. Her conversion Stein felt that her new religious life included a calling to serve in a religious order, but she did not do this immediately out of respect for her mother, who was quite disturbed by her daughter's conversion. Instead, she began working at a girl's school in Speyer, Germany, run by Dominican nuns.. During her stay at Speyer, she was encouraged by the Jesuit priest and philosopher Erich Przywara not to abandon her academic work. At his urging, she began a German translation of a Latin work on truth by St. Thomas Aquinas. Through her study of Aquinas and her discussions with Przywara, she was convinced that she could serve God through a scholarly search for truth. Her writing and translations became popular and Stein was invited to lecture for a number of groups on religious and women's issues in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. By 1931, these experiences had convinced her that she should leave Speyer and return to her philosophical work fulltime. Completes Book on Jewish Life 6 Of 12
The academic world in the 1930s, however, was growing increasingly anti-semitic, and Stein found that she was not welcome at the schools at Freiburg and Breslau. She finally managed to obtain a lecture position at the Educational Institute in Münster in 1932. There she continued her work on Scholasticism and phenomenology, but she also felt the need to address the increasing hatred and violence that she witnessed around her. Jews not welcome here Attacks on Jews were becoming frequent and in 1933, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. One result of the rise of Hitler was that Stein, along with other Jews in university positions, was fired from her job. She felt that she had a unique opportunity and responsibility, as a Jewish-born Catholic, to bridge the gap of understanding between Christians and Jews. To accomplish this, she penned the book Aus dem Leben einer Jüdischen Familie, or "Life in a Jewish Family," which tried to show the similar human experiences of Jews and Christians in their daily lives. 7 Of 12
In 1933, Stein felt that she was ready to devote her life more completely to religious pursuits. She could no longer take any part in acedemic work. Her mother had found her conversion to Catholism very painful.now came an even greater blow. She applied to the Carmelite convent in Cologne, and at the age of 42, was accepted. Her mother never was resigned to this. She died in 1938, She took the religious name Teresa Benedicta a Cruce, in honor of St. Benedict and St. Teresa of Avila as well as the Passion of Christ. She was encouraged by her superiors to continue her philosophical writings, which included an attempt to combine the thoughts of Husserl and Aquinas in her book Endliches und ewiges Sein ("Finite and Eternal Being"), completed in 1936. Under the anti-jewish laws in effect then, however, the book was refused for publication and was not printed until 1950. This is an add for an anti-jewish film. The eternal Jew 8 Of 12
Kristallnacht Starting in the late hours of November 9 and continuing into the next day, Nazi mobs torched or otherwise vandalized hundreds of synagogues throughout Germany and damaged, if not completely destroyed, thousands of Jewish homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and cemeteries. Nearly 100 Jews were murdered during the violence. Nazi officials ordered German police officers and firemen to do nothing as the riots raged and buildings burned, although firefighters were allowed to extinguish blazes that threatened Aryan-owned property. 9 Of 12
After the Kristallnacht, a night in which numerous Jewish businesses and synagogues were vandalized and burned in Germany, Stein realized that she was no longer safe in her native country. Also wishing to avoid bringing harm to her Carmelites sisters by her presence in their convent, she moved to a Carmelite convent in Echt in the Netherlands on December 31, 1938. In Echt, she was joined by her sister Rosa, who had also converted to Catholicism. Although still not completely out of danger, Stein attempted to return to a normal pattern of life, instructing younger women in Latin and training her sister Rosa as a Carmelite. She also continued her writing, completing a phenomenological work on the life of the mystic St. John of the Cross entitled "The Science of the Cross: A Study of Saint John of the Cross", a book that also would not see publication until after the war. Killed in Concentration Camp The Catholic Bishop wrote a letter protesting the treatment of Jews married to nonayrians. This infuriated the local Nazie govenor. He immediately ordered that all Jews be rounded up and deported. Edith urgently applied for a Swiss visa in order to transfer to a convent in Switzerland. Her sister was unable to arrange similar travel arrangements, however, and Edith refused to leave without her. 10 Of 12
On August 2, 1942, the sisters were removed from the convent at Echt by Nazi troops and transported to a concentration camp at Amersfoort for a few days before being sent on to the Auchwitz camp in Poland. The two women were taken by 30 SS soldiers and as they walked out Edith said We go to our people. Guards at Camp Amersfoot While nothing is know about their last days or the exact circumstances of their deaths, it is assumed that the women were among the many people killed in the Nazi gas chambers, placed in mass graves on the site, and later cremated.in that last week of her life she was pushed through the infernal network of Hitler's "final solution," thus visiting two intermediate transit camps in Holland, first Amersfoort, then Westerbork In Westerbork her stay coincided with the tenure of Etty Hillesum, the Dutch Jewish woman who has left behind a diary and some Letters from Westerbork that have made her a subject of recent discussion in some Christian circles. (9) Hillesum devotes a lot of space in her writings (published posthumously because she too was killed by the Nazis) to the deep sense of despair which overcame women with children in the camp.(10) Understandably, the children were neglected, and an eyewitness account informs us that Edith Stein did much to look after them. Julius Marcan, a survivor, testified that: It was Edith Stein's complete calm and self-possession that marked her out from the rest of the prisoners... Many of the mothers were on the brink of insanity and had sat moaning for days, without giving any thought to their children. Edith Stein immediately set about taking care of these little ones. She washed them, combed their hair and tried to make sure they were fed and cared for. (Herbstrith 105) 11 Of 12
From Westerbork Edith was able to send back a compelling message to the nuns at her monastery in Echt:... we place our trust in your prayers. There are so many persons here in need of a little comfort, and they expect it from the sisters. (Letter 342 to Mother Ambrosia A. Engleman, 8 August 1942) 12 Of 12