We Must Not Think of Ourselves: A Novel

“‘It is up to us to write our own history,’ he said. ‘Deny the Germans the last word.’ […] ‘It’s hard to deny the Germans anything, Pan Ringelblum.’ ‘Perhaps, […] Or perhaps after the war, we can tell the world the truth about what happened.’”

Emanuel Ringelblum invites Adam Paskow to be a part of the Oneg Shabbat project. The book opens with this invitation, and the context of the archive is firmly established from the beginning. This, in addition to Ringelblum’s assertion about the purpose of the archive, points to one of the book’s central themes: The Importance of Memory and Documentation, especially as a form of resistance.

“I myself had been an English teacher, and in fact I remain an English teacher, the only one I know who’s still at it. My vocation is so useless that I’m not surprised to be the only one, and often I’m surprised I’m still alive.”

Language and literature are both important motifs in the book. Language underscores the theme of Memory and Documentation, being a tool for resistance, as Adam uses language to interview and record people’s experiences. Literature, similarly, points to the theme of The Resilience of the Human Spirit, as, among other things, Adam uses poetry to lift his students’ spirits. Thus, despite Adam’s belief about his vocation’s uselessness, his work greatly contributes to the survival of the Jewish community and culture.

“The only other language, in my humble opinion, that used poetry to rise above its station was German. […] Still, I was unsure that a language that could order children to be mowed down by gunfire was still a sane one to use for poetry.”

Besides being a motif that speaks to the theme of Memory and Documentation, languages are also synonymous with cultures and worldviews in the book. Thus, although poetry elevates both English and German as languages, the German language is now associated with the Nazi regime.