Holocaust anthologies, notes one editor, are something of a contradiction in terms. Since the root meaning of anthology “is a collection of flowers, a thing of joy and beauty,” such a collection could only be titled “flowers of evil” – with a nod toward Baudelaire’s very different collection of poems by this name.

Most editors have not explicitly pointed to the etymological tension. But the problem of classifying what a Holocaust anthology is, or should be, may find expression in the practical exigencies of the library catalog. The United States Library of Congress, for example, doesn’t use the heading “literary anthologies” at all, preferring “literary collections.” The Yad Vashem library, which relies on a different cataloging system, forgoes “literary collections,” grouping all collections, literary and otherwise, simply under “anthologies.” These rubrics are harbingers of blurred lines and hybrid assortments: Holocaust literature anthologies vary considerably, most often also contain non-literary writings, and resist uniform classification – which can make locating them a challenge.