COMFORT AND SCANDAL OF MEMORY

On the threshold of the twenty‐first century, two remarkable novels were published. They differed widely and originated in different societies (Canada and Israel), yet they had something in common too. Anne Michaels, born and educated in Canada and known as a poet, published Fugitive Pieces in 1997. The novel Our Holocaust by the Israeli writer Amir Gutfreund appeared in 2000. Both authors belong to the generation whose knowledge of the Holocaust is based on remembered history—that is, on the memorial narratives of those who went through the experiences themselves. Anne Michaels tells the story of loss, describing the pain, necessity and healing power of memory. At the end of Amir Gutfreund's quest, the knowledge the protagonist had longed for so strongly has become a burden, full of cognitive and emotional dissonance and a disillusion. My analysis of the novels is followed by a critical discussion where the acceptability of the conflicting views offered by these authors is compared.