Edith Stein (1891-1942) was a Jewish philosopher who came to understand the limits of pure intellect, and embraced Catholicism. Later she perished in Auschwitz.
Her life stands in contrast to that of Martin Heidegger, briefly her associate in philosophy, whose equal but untrammelled brilliance led him to conclude that “the Führer, and he alone, is the present and future law of Germany”.
The youngest of 11 children, four of whom died in infancy, Edith Stein was born in Germany at Breslau (now Wrocław, in Poland).
