Among the those considered in the International Book Prize competition of the Shoah memorial in Israel, Yad VaShem, was Jesuit professor of philosophy James Bernauer SJ of Boston College. The press release from Yad Vashem said, “The panel of judges found special interest in the book by Prof. James Bernauer, S.J., Jesuit Kaddish: Jesuits, Jews, and Holocaust Remembrance (University of Notre Dame Press, 2020).”
On December 16, 2021, the Israeli Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research awarded its prestigious International Book Prize for Holocaust Research to Prof. Eliyana R. Adler of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Leon Saltiel of the University of Macedonia for their research in the field of Holocaust remembrance.
See: https://www.yadvashem.org/press-release/16-december-2021-12-30.html
The judges found a sincere open attitude in Bernauer’s book to the Jesuit past showing both positive and negative aspects within the history of the Order leading up to the period of the Shoah. The history in combination with theology and spirituality proved important and enlightening and thus the book is an important contribution to Jewish Christian dialogue in coping with the past.
Kadish is a deeply reflective book, it combines various literary genres, memoir, historical research, and theological and spiritual exploration. It traces the history of the Jesuits leading up to and during the Shoah, charting both shortcomings and successes. It recounts the stories of individual Jesuits (especially the fifteen recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem) in their relationship to Jews, Judaism, and the Shoah. See here for the stories of the fifteen Jesuit Righteous.
Bernauer said to a reviewer of his book, “I think it’s important to convey to the Jewish community the fundamental change in Catholic attitudes, Catholic thinking. Part of that change is rooted in a more critical understanding of our faith. It should be a Jesuit concern as well.”
Jesuits in the Holy Land 
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