Unknown Black Book: The Holocaust in the German-Occupied Soviet Territories

by Joshua Rubenstein (Editor), Ilya Altman (Editor)

Overview

The Unknown Black Book provides a revelatory compilation of testimonies from Jews who survived open-air massacres and other atrocities carried out by the Germans and their allies in the occupied Soviet territories during World War II—Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Crimea. These documents are first-hand accounts by survivors of work camps, ghettos, forced marches, beatings, starvation, and disease. Collected under the direction of two renowned Soviet Jewish journalists, Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman, they tell of Jews who lived in pits, walled-off corners of apartments, attics, and basement dugouts, unable to emerge due to fear that their neighbors would betray them, as often happened.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253222671
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	05/25/2010
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joshua Rubenstein is Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International USA. He is author of Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg, and editor (with Vladimir Naumov) of Stalin's Secret Pogrom: The Postwar Inquisition of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee.

Ilya Altman is Director of the Center for Holocaust Research and Education in Moscow and Editor-in-Chief of Encyclopedia of the Holocaust in the USSR (in Russian).

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
The Destruction of the Jews in German-Occupied Territories of the Soviet UnionYitzhak Arad
The History and Fate of The Black Book and The Unknown Black BookIlya Altman
Note on Translation

The War and the Final Solution on the Russian FrontJoshua Rubenstein
I. Ukraine
II. Belorussia
III. Lithuania
IV. Latvia
V. Estonia
VI. The Crimea
VII. Russia
VIII. Prisoners of War

Detailed Table of Contents
Index

What People are Saying About This

"The most comprehensive English collection of wartime and early postwar diaries, letters, testimonies, and other documents penned by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust in the territories of Ukraine, Belorussia, Russia, and the Baltics. Anyone interested in studying and trying to make sense of the cruelty, collective violence, inhumane suffering, and trauma of genocide should read this unfiltered, detailed evidence of the Holocaust's impact on individuals and society."

Richard Overy]]>

The Unknown Black Book invites the reader to enter an almost unimaginable world where atrocity became a way of life and survival a miracle. . . . Killing on the Eastern front was raw and unmediated violence. 'The Unknown Black Book' captures that grim reality of rave murder and at the same time disarms denial.

Wendy Lower]]>

The most comprehensive English collection of wartime and early postwar diaries, letters, testimonies, and other documents penned by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust in the territories of Ukraine, Belorussia, Russia, and the Baltics. Anyone interested in studying and trying to make sense of the cruelty, collective violence, inhumane suffering, and trauma of genocide should read this unfiltered, detailed evidence of the Holocaust's impact on individuals and society.

Richard Overy

"The Unknown Black Book invites the reader to enter an almost unimaginable world where atrocity became a way of life and survival a miracle . . . Killing on the Eastern front was raw and unmediated violence. The Unknown Black Book captures that grim reality of rave murder and at the same time disarms denial."--(Richard Overy, author of The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia)

editor of The Holocaust Encyclopedia - Walter Laqueur

A unique source for a fuller understanding of the tragic events during these dark years.

Walter Laqueur

"A unique source for a fuller understanding of the tragic events during these dark years."--(Walter Laqueur, editor of The Holocaust Encyclopedia)

Timothy Snyder

"The particular historical merit of these collections is that they assemble records collected in the months following the events they describe. The two books together provide one of the most important sources on the Holocaust, and the editors . . . have performed an invaluable service by preparing an English-language edition of "The Unknown Black Book."--(Timothy Snyder, Professor of History, Yale University)

Wendy Lower

"The most comprehensive English collection of wartime and early postwar diaries, letters, testimonies, and other documents penned by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust in the territories of Ukraine, Belorussia, Russia, and the Baltics. Anyone interested in studying and trying to make sense of the cruelty, collective violence, inhumane suffering, and trauma of genocide should read this unfiltered, detailed evidence of the Holocaust's impact on individuals and society."--(Wendy Lower, author of Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine)

author of Nazi Empire Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine - Wendy Lower

The most comprehensive English collection of wartime and early postwar diaries, letters, testimonies, and other documents penned by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust in the territories of Ukraine, Belorussia, Russia, and the Baltics. Anyone interested in studying and trying to make sense of the cruelty, collective violence, inhumane suffering, and trauma of genocide should read this unfiltered, detailed evidence of the Holocaust's impact on individuals and society.

author of The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia - Richard Overy

The Unknown Black Book invites the reader to enter an almost unimaginable world where atrocity became a way of life and survival a miracle. . . . Killing on the Eastern front was raw and unmediated violence. 'The Unknown Black Book' captures that grim reality of rave murder and at the same time disarms denial.

Omer Bartov

"an extraordinary collection of eye-witness reports, diary entries and other accounts of the mass murder of Jews... 'The Unknown Black Book' reveals the sheer barbarity on the individual level -- the tortures and rapes, the looting and destruction, and, not least, the glee and humor, as well as the hatred and contempt, expressed by the killers. It makes for very disturbing reading. But these accounts from those who saw what happened convey what we cannot learn from official documents about the nature of this vast criminal enterprise, in which hundreds of thousands were transformed into monsters -- mostly returning home after the war as "ordinary" men -- and millions of others became helpless, dehumanized, mutilated and finally forgotten victims."--(Reviewed by Prof. Omer Bartov, Brown University)

Editorial Reviews

"The book offers a great many insights to the reader. . . . It is impossible here to give a full account of the wealth of material contained in the book. March 19, 2010"—Journal of Modern Jewish Studies

"These accounts from those who saw what happened convey what we cannot learn from official documents about the nature of this vast criminal enterprise, in which hundreds of thousands were transformed into monsters . . . and millions of others became helpless, dehumanized, mutilated, and finally forgotten victims."—Wall Street Journal

"An essential work for anyone who wants to explore the depth of German and collaborationist crimes against the Jews."—Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"The Unknown Black Book's main contribution is in exposing the English-speaking audience, for the first time, to one of the most terrible chapters of the Holocaust, as well as in challenging the current trend of presenting the Holocaust as merely another crime against humanity."—Russian Review

"One of the most important sources on the Holocaust . . . [T]he editors and Indiana University Press have performed an invaluable service by preparing an English-language edition of The Unknown Black Book."—Timothy Snyder, Yale University

"The most comprehensive English collection of wartime and early postwar diaries, letters, testimonies, and other documents penned by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust in the territories of Ukraine, Belorussia, Russia, and the Baltics. Anyone interested in studying and trying to make sense of the cruelty, collective violence, inhumane suffering, and trauma of genocide should read this unfiltered, detailed evidence of the Holocaust's impact on individuals and society."—Wendy Lower, author of Nazi Empire Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine

"The Unknown Black Book invites the reader to enter an almost unimaginable world where atrocity became a way of life and survival a miracle. . . . Killing on the Eastern front was raw and unmediated violence. 'The Unknown Black Book' captures that grim reality of rave murder and at the same time disarms denial."—Richard Overy, author of The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia

"A unique source for a fuller understanding of the tragic events during these dark years."—Walter Laqueur, editor of The Holocaust Encyclopedia

From the Publisher

One of the most important sources on the Holocaust . . . [T]he editors and Indiana UniversityPress have performed an invaluable service by preparing an English-language edition of The Unknown Black Book.

Yale University - Timothy Snyder

An essential work for anyone who wants to explore the depth of German and collaborationist crimes against the Jews.

Holocaust and Genocide Studies

These accounts from those who saw what happened convey what we cannot learn from official documents about the nature of this vast criminal enterprise, in which hundreds of thousands were transformed into monsters . . . and millions of others became helpless, dehumanized, mutilated, and finally forgotten victims.

Wall Street Journal

The book offers a great many insights to the reader. . . . It is impossible here to give a full account of the wealth of material contained in the book. March 19, 2010

Journal of Modern Jewish Studies

The Unknown Black Book's main contribution is in exposing the English-speaking audience, for the first time, to one of the most terrible chapters of the Holocaust, as well as in challenging the current trend of presenting the Holocaust as merely another crime against humanity.

Russian Review

"These accounts from those who saw what happened convey what we cannot learn from official documents about the nature of this vast criminal enterprise, in which hundreds of thousands were transformed into monsters... and millions of others became helpless, dehumanized, mutilated, and finally forgotten victims."

Wall Street Journal

"A unique source for a fuller understanding of the tragic events during these dark years." —Walter Laqueur, editor of The Holocaust Encyclopedia

Walter Laqueur

"The Unknown Black Book invites the reader to enter an almost unimaginable world where atrocity became a way of life and survival a miracle.... Killing on the Eastern front was raw and unmediated violence. 'The Unknown Black Book' captures that grim reality of rave murder and at the same time disarms denial." —Richard Overy, author of The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia

Richard Overy

"The most comprehensive English collection of wartime and early postwar diaries, letters, testimonies, and other documents penned by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust in the territories of Ukraine, Belorussia, Russia, and the Baltics. Anyone interested in studying and trying to make sense of the cruelty, collective violence, inhumane suffering, and trauma of genocide should read this unfiltered, detailed evidence of the Holocaust's impact on individuals and society." —Wendy Lower, author of Nazi Empire Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine

Wendy Lower

"One of the most important sources on the Holocaust... [T]he editors and Indiana University Press have performed an invaluable service by preparing an English-language edition of The Unknown Black Book." —Timothy Snyder, Yale University

— Timothy Snyder, Yale University

Truthdig

"One of the most important sources on the Holocaust... [T]he editors and Indiana University Press have performed an invaluable service by preparing an English-language edition of The Unknown Black Book." —Timothy Snyder, Yale University

Truthdig - Timothy Snyder