Confronting the Silence: A Holocaust Survivor’s Search for God

Walter Ziffer

Aug 2019 · Plunkett Lake Press

About this ebook

In this memoir, Walter Ziffer, a Holocaust survivor born in Czechoslovakia in 1927, recounts his boyhood experiences, the Polish and later German invasions of his hometown, the destruction of his synagogue, his Jewish community’s forced move into a ghetto, and his 1942 deportation and ensuing experiences in eight Nazi concentration and slave labor camps. In 1945, Ziffer returned to his hometown, trained as a mechanic and later emigrated to the US where he converted to Christianity, married, graduated from Vanderbilt University with an engineering degree, worked for General Motors before becoming a Christian minister. He taught and preached in Ohio, France, Washington DC and Belgium. He later returned to Judaism and considers himself a Jewish secular humanist.

“The compelling story of an unfolding life carried by an insatiable search for meaning.” — Mahan Siler, retired Baptist minister 

“In Walter Ziffer’s beautifully written new book, you will learn of Walter’s complex life journey, and you may experience, thanks to his skillfully told story and clearly articulated questions and insights, a sense of his presence, the presence of a great man who finds in his own story lessons important for the rest of us, especially now.” —Richard Chess, Director, The Center for Jewish Studies at UNC Asheville

“A powerful and unique addition to the literature of the Holocaust. Walter Ziffer’s memoir not only recounts his own personal resilience and survival of the camps, but also his own unusual spiritual journey in which he both becomes a Christian minister while retaining his quintessential Jewish identity. This is a learned, well-crafted, and fascinating new dimension to this literature.” — Michael Sartisky, President Emeritus, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

“The Holocaust portion [of this memoir]... is as true and chilling as a parent’s last words. His tale-telling prowess makes as strong a mental impression as it makes a factual one.” — Rob Neufeld, Asheville Citizen-Times

About the author

Born in 1927 to a German-speaking Jewish family in Těšín, Czechoslovakia, near the Polish border, Walter Ziffer saw his hometown invaded first by Poland, then by Nazi Germany. He and his family were deported in 1942, and Ziffer was interned in eight Nazi concentration and slave labor camps. Liberated in 1945 by the Russians, Ziffer trained as a mechanic and emigrated to the US in 1947 via France. In Nashville, he converted to Christianity in 1951, married, graduated from Vanderbilt University with an engineering degree in 1954, worked for General Motors and was later granted five US patents.

Seeking a more rewarding life, Ziffer earned two master’s degrees, in New Testament and Greek, at Oberlin in 1963 and became a Christian minister. He taught and preached in Ohio, France, Washington DC and Belgium. In 1971, he earned a doctorate in theology from the University of Strasbourg, France. Ziffer directed the Accueil Fraternel language center for missionaries in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France. He taught at the Faculté de Théologie Protestante in Montpellier, France; the Inter/Met Theological Seminary in Washington DC; the University of Maine; the University of North Carolina Asheville; and Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, NC. 

In 1987, Ziffer returned to Judaism, and he now considers himself a Jewish secular humanist. Besides his memoir Confronting the Silence, he has published two books,The Teaching of Disdain and The Birth of Christianity from the Matrix of Judaism.