Juggling the roles of an educator, an author and a senator’s wife is a demanding task. But it is one Ernestine Schlant Bradley faces everyday.Bradley will visit Ohio State tomorrow to discuss her most recent book “The Language of Silence: West German Literature and the Holocaust.” She will give a lecture about confronting the aftermath of the Holocaust in the literature of post-World War II German authors at the Hillel Jewish Student Center. Bradley is a professor of German and comparative literature at Montclair State University and has held visiting professorships at Yale and Columbia Universities. Wife of former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), she actively campaigned for her husband in each of his three U.S. Senate races and was the co-chair of each of his annual fundraisers. Her book examines the work of post-war German authors as they reflect or fail to reflect on the genocide. Bradley chose to explore literature rather than direct conversation because “unconscious values come out in people`s writing.” She studied the works of several authors including Heinrich Boll, Hermann Lenz and Peter Schneider. Born in Nazi Germany, where her father was a Luftwaffe pilot for Hitler, Bradley confronts her homeland`s accountability for the Holocaust by probing into the avoidance and denial of post-war German literature. “There is scarce evidence of mourning, shock or sadness,” Bradley said.The author said the situation is very complicated. “I`m not trying to tell someone how to feel,” Bradley said. “I`m trying to show that there was never any concern for the victims.”Rather, she said, the concern is for the “capitalistic age” and how “German souls are dealing with their past.” Joseph Kohane, executive director of Hillel, echoes Bradley`s thoughts on the “necessity of confrontation.” According to Kohane, Bradley believes the Holocaust should be dealt with in a forthright manner. “It is not healthy not to talk about it,” Kohane said.The unwillingness to discuss the Holocaust in German literature after the war is central to Bradley’s book. Kohane said “The Language of Silence” is about “how the silence is an unusual presence because it is so striking given its past.” Beyond comprehension of her own family`s situation, Bradley’s research uncovers the feelings of other generations and how they have confronted the Holocaust. She feels that after more than 50 years, the current young generation of Germans is the most outspoken and educated about the Holocaust. Bradley was born in Passau, Germany in 1935. Known professionally as Dr. Ernestine Schlant, she came to America in 1957 while working for Pan Am as a stewardess. She became an American citizen in 1963 and earned her undergraduate degree from Emory University, as well as a master`s and doctoral degree in comparative literature.