Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Abstract This essay chronicles my personal journey of uncovering a truth that contradicted my long-held assumptions, resulting in a profound professional reckoning. It began with my discovery of a treasure trove of 350 glass plate negatives, masterpieces captured between 1920 and 1940, which led me to write a biography of the photographer, Benedict Stolz, a German Benedictine monk. A central figure in this biography was Hermann Keller, Stolz’s childhood friend and, in his day, a renowned theologian, philosopher, and Hebraist. I portrayed Keller as a Nazi war criminal and associate of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich, based on numerous secondary sources. However, shortly before publication, an interview with a nun who had known Keller challenged this narrative, attributing the “erroneous charges” against him to the mistakes of one historian that were subsequently echoed by others. After years of doubting her claims, I was confronted with evidence proving Keller’s innocence, prompting a critical reflection on how historians, including myself, can unwittingly propagate inaccuracies.