The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry

Book excerpt: The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry is a collection of eyewitness testimonies, letters, diaries, affidavits, and other documents on the activities of the Nazis against Jews in the camps, ghettoes, and towns of Eastern Europe. Arguably, the only apt comparison is to The Gulag Archipelago of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This definitive edition, including for the first time materials omitted from previous editions, is a major addition to the literature on the Holocaust. Now available in paperback, it will be of particular interest to students, teachers, and scholars of the Holocaust and those interested in the history of Europe. The Black Book is the single most important text documenting the slaughter of Jews in the USSR. Until now, it was only available in English in truncated editions. Because of its profound significance, this definitive English translation of The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry is a major literary and intellectual event. " O]ne of the most important books in the vast literature on the Holocaust...The extent of cruelty exhibited here and the uncontrolled ways in which it happened are a graphic demonstration of what the human race is capable of when left entirely to its own devices."-William B. Helmreich, Long Island Jewish World " P]repared by Ehrenburg and Grossman themselves, with fine literary skill...Each section of the documents has a useful set of notes compiled by David Patterson, author of this excellent translation, which clarifies factual issues, and presents brief biographies of more significant figures."-Richard Overy, Times Literary Supplement