Powerful testimonies by survivors of the Final Solution in the Nazi-occupied USSR
The Unknown Black Book provides, for the first time in English, 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. These documents, from residents of cities, small towns, and rural areas, 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, Vasily Grossman and Ilya Ehrenburg, 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 neighbours would betray them, which often occurred.
Table of contents:
Editor's Preface
The Destruction of the Jews in the German-occupied Territories of the Soviet Union
by Yitzhak Arad; The History and Fate of The Black Book and The Unknown Black Book by Ilya Altman; Note on the Translation
Introduction: The War and the Final Solution on the Russian Front by Joshua Rubenstein
I. Ukraine 1. Life in occupied Kiev: The recollections of Ida S. Belozovskaya; 2. A list of members of the Jewish intelligentsia, with their families, who perished at Babi Yar. Compiled by A. Kagan, January 15, 1945; 3. Nineteen months in a coffin: The story of the midwife Sofia Borisovna Eisenstein-Dolgusheva; 4. A stranger from the other world: The story of the artist Felix Zinovievich Giterman; 5. How I was saved from Hitler: The recollections of the teacher Emilia Borisovna Kotlova. From letters to Ilya Ehrenburg, 1945; 6. A Forced Labor Camp: The recollections of Stepan Yakimovich Shenfeld, [1943]; Kharkov; 7. The Story of One Individual Who Was Saved from the Kharkov Ghetto: The recollections of the engineer S. S. Krivoruchko; 8. Pages from Dante: From the diary of Kharkov resident N. F. Belonozhko. Prepared by Vladimir Lidin, [1941-42]; 9. The Destruction of the Jews of Kharkov: The recollections of Nina Mogilevskaya, wife of a laborer and race car driver. Recorded by S. Golivanivsky ; 10. Why did it happen to us? The recollections of Dr. Lidia Maximovna Slipchenko (Kozman), [1944]; 11. The Story of Anna Morgulis from Odessa. Recorded by R. A. Davis.; Translated by M. Bregman, [1944]; 12. In prison for concealing Jews: The testimony of nurse Alexandra Yakovlevna Volovtseva, May 10, 1944. From the files of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Investigation of Atrocities Committed on Soviet Territory by the German-Fascist Invaders and their Accomplices (ChGK); 13. To avenge my children: A letter from Tatiana Rekochinskaya to her brother, Abram, on active duty in the army, (1944); 14. My life in a fascist prison: The recollections and verses of the schoolboy Lev Rozhetsky, April 4-August 16, 1944; 15. In occupied Odessa and Transnistria: The recollections of Dr. Israel Borisovich Adesman and the list he compiled of Odessa doctors who perished. Recorded by his wife, Rakhil Iosifovna Goldental, [1944]; 16. The camp at Bogdanovka: The testimony of Filipp Borisovich Klinov, Pavel Ivanovich Stonoga, Karp Korneevich Sheremet, and Vera Pavlovna Kabanets, May 1-2, 1944. From the archives of the Extraordinary State Commission; 17. Resistance: A report on the activities of an underground group in Odessa, [1944]; 18. The escape of twenty-five Jewish girls from the Tulchin ghetto: ; Reminiscences of the partisan fighter Golda Wasserman, [1944]; 19. Mama, save me! A letter from Blyuma Isaakovna Bronfin, Khmelnik, Vinnitsa region, to Ilya Ehrenburg, (1944); 20. Avenge us! Farewell inscriptions on the walls of the synagogue in Kovel, Volynsk district. Letter from Sergeant S. N. Grutman to Ilya Ehrenburg, December 2, 1944; 21. The fate of the Jews of the small town of Edinitsa, Khotinsky district, Chernovitz region. From a letter by Rakhil Fradis-Milner to Rakhil Kovnator, September 25, 1944; 22. The boy from Berdichev: The story of Chaim Roitman; 23. At the family grave: The fate of the Jews of the town of Chudnov, Zhitomir region. Recorded by P. Zozulya, February 15-16, 1944; 24. Tragedy in the town of Slavuta, Kamenets-Podol Region: The stories of Dr. Voitseshchuk, the Catholic priest Milevsky, the teacher Vysotskaya, the worker Fyodorova, and the metalworker Enin. Recorded by Major Z. G. Ostrovsky, February 14, 1944; 25. Tanks were crushing people: Atrocities against the Jews, the civilian population, and prisoners of war in the city of Debaltsevo. The stories of M.Yu. Katz and Nikulin. Recorded by A. Murovsky; 26. Local Petlura supporters slaughtered all of the Jews in the town of Medvedino, Kiev region. Letter from A. M. Karmayan to Ilya Ehrenburg, November [1944]; 27. In the town of Pyatigora, Kiev Region: The recollections of Raisa Zelenkova; 28. In the city of Shpola and its environs: Stories of local inhabitants recorded by a teacher named Kruglyak, [1944]; 29. In Uman: The recollections of Manya Feingold, 1944; 30. What I went through in fascist captivity: A letter from 9-year-old Boris Gershenzon from Uman to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, [1944]; 31. The story of the partisan Raisa Dudnik, who escaped from Uman. Recorded by Miriam Zheleznova, [1944]; 32. Do not consider me a stranger: A letter from Olga Suprun of Zolotonosha to the family of her husband, Boris Yudkovsky, January 12, 1944; 33. He is my husband: Letters from Nadezhda Tereshchenko of Kirovograd to Major A.A. Rozen, [1944]; 34. Fate: The recollections of the wife of the engineer F. Krepak of Dniepropetrovsk, 1944; 35. The rescue of Jews by local inhabitants of Starozhentsky, Chernovitsk Region: Accounts of survivors recorded by I.G. Kon. Translated by D. Manevich, 1944; 36. The rescue of a Jewish family in the Novo-Zlatopolsk district, Zaporozhe region: An account by Leah Tsviling. Recorded by Dmitri Stonov, 1944; 37. The fraternal grave of ten orphans in the steppe. Recorded by N. G. Kon. Translated by D. Manevich, [1944]; 38. The shooting of Hungarian Jews in Sumy: The recollections of the student Tatyana Taranova, [1944]; 39. Liquidation of the Ternopol ghetto: Testimony of the German non-commissioned officer P. Traugot, [1942]; 40. The destruction of the Jews of Mariupol: The diary of the student Sarra Gleikh, ; [1941]; 41. An execution in Mariupol: A letter from Samuil Aronovich Belous. Prepared by S. Golovanivsky
II. Belorussia 42. In the Minsk ghetto: From the notes of the partisan Mikhail Grichanik. Prepared by A. Margulis, [1944]; 43. Five pogroms in Minsk: Accounts of Perla Aginskaya, Malka Kofman, Darya Lyusik, and Raisa Gelfond. Recorded by Major A. Krasov, [1944]; 44. An account by Professor Prilezhaev about the fate of the Jews in the Minsk Ghetto. Recorded by M. Grubiyan; 45. The liquidation of the Minsk Ghetto: An account by Abram Mashkeleyson. Recorded by A. Idin. Translated by D. Manevich, [1944]; 46. They were dealing in children: Accounts of Maria Gotovtseva, Marfa Orlova, and Fenya Lepeshko. Recorded by A. Verbitsky; 47. Minsk Hell: The recollections of the teacher Sofia Ozerskaya; 48. The recollections of Dr. Cecilia Mikhailovna Shapiro. Recorded by A.V. Veysbrod, September 20, 1944; 49. A meeting in Minsk: Accounts of Tamara Gershakovich, Captain Lifshitz, and Sofia Disner. Recorded by L. Katzovich; 50. The camp and ghetto in Minsk: A letter from the frontline soldier M. Lokshin to Ilya Ehrenburg, [February 1945]; 51. A prisoner in the Minsk camp: The recollections of Red Army soldier Yefim Leynov, March 14, 1943; 52. The gassing of the inhabitants of Minsk in mobile gas vans and the shooting of Minsk Jews. Stenogram of the interrogation of a German officer named Julius Raihof, July 21, 1944. From the documents of the Extraordinary State Commission; 53. Shootings, gallows, human torches: Accounts of the inhabitants of the town of Starye Dorogi. Recorded by M. Grubiyan. Translated by D. Manevich; 54. Extermination of the Jews in western Belorussia: An account by L. Shaus. Translated by D. Manevich; 55. Reports by partisans from the town of Slutsk. Recorded by M. Grubiyan. Translated by D. Manevich; 56. In the town of Lyubavich. Recorded by M. Grubiyan. Translated by M. Bregman, [1944]; 57. In Chausy: An account by the local resident Larisa Grigorievna Gmenko. Recorded by S. Bank; 58. The death of a heroic schoolteacher in Chausy. Recorded by M. Grubiyan; 59. The Germans in Mozyr. Recorded by M. Grubiyan. Translated by M. Bregman; 60. Liquidation of the Jews in Mstislav. Recorded by F. Krasotkin, January 2, 1944; 61. Nazi atrocities in Cherikov. Recorded by M. Tsunts, November 25, 1943
III. Lithuania 62. The truth about the terror against the Jews in Lithuania during the German Occupation of 1941: An appeal to the nations of the world. From the diary of Dr. Viktor Kutorga. Translated from the German by K. Gershater; 63. Kaunas during the occupation: Accounts of local residents and the partisan, Aron Vilenchuk. Recorded by Major Z. G. Ostrovsky, [1944]; 64. The Kaunas Ghetto: The recollections of Viktor Lazerson, [1944]; 65. Extermination of the Jewish children in Kaunas: Account of Maria Ilinichna Yarmovskaya; 66. Killing the Jews in the town of Stoklishka: Accounts of Maria Yarmolinskaya and Sarra Epstein. Recorded by Major Z.G. Ostrovsky, [1944]; 67. The small town of Stoklishki: The recollections of Rasha Shuster, [1944]; 68. What happened in Telshyay to the entire Jewish population of Zhmuda: Accounts of local inhabitants Nesya Miselevich, Vecksler, and Yazhgur. Recorded by L. Yerusalimsky; 69. Slaughter in the town of Utyan: The recollections of Tsodik Yakovlevich Bleyman, [1945]; 70. Killing the Jews of Sventsyan: A letter from a local resident named Guryan to Ilya Ehrenburg, November 20, 1944; 71. A camp in Kotsyunishki: A letter from the worker Itsik Yukhnikov
IV. Latvia 72. Our situation is hopeless and yet: The fate of the Jews of Libava according to the diaries of Kalman Linkimer. Prepared by Sh. Goman. Translated by M. Shambadal, June 11, [1944]; 73. The voice of Sheyna Gram: The diary of a 15-year-old girl from the town of Preyli. Foreword and translation from Yiddish by B. Gertzbach, June 22-August 8, 1941; 74. The death of 5,000 Jews in Rezekna (Rezhitsa): Account by Chaim and Yakov Izraelit. Recorded by B. Gertzbach, [1944]
V. Estonia 75. In the camps of Estonia: Stenographic record of a conversation with Nisim Anolik; VI. The Crimea; 76. Stenographic record of a conversation with Simferopol resident Yevsei Yefimovich Gopshteyn. Recorded by D. Brichinsky, August 16-17, 1944; 77. Account by the bookkeeper Lev Yurovsky of Simferopol. Recorded by Lev Kvitko, [1944]; 78. The story of the Simferopol tailor Max Solomin. Recorded by Lev Kvitko, [1944]; 79. The death and rescue of Jewish children in Simferopol: The stories of Lyusa Rabin and Miriam Paver. [Recorded by Lev Kvitko], [1944]; 80. In the attic, in the Gestapo's courtyard (in the city of Feodosia). A sketch by Lazar Lagin, [1945]; 81. Alla-Roza Brazgol, A girl from Feodosia. Recorded by Lev Kvtiko; 82. The destruction of the Crimean Jewish colonies. Prepared by Lev Kvitko. From the reports of the Extraordinary State Commisson
VII. Russia 83. The Germans in Essentuki: A letter from the painter, L. N. Tarabukin, and his wife, D. R. Goldshteyn, to the writer, Yu. Kalugin, [1943]; 84. The rescue of a Jewish family from the village of Khislavich, Smolensk region: A letter from B. M. Sorina to Ilya Ehrenburg; 85. Town of Novozybkov--800 victims in one day: A letter from Anastasia Mikheylitz to Kalman Ayzenshteyn concerning the fate of her family. Prepared by A Kagan. Translated by M. Bregman; 86. Nazi cannibals: An account by Eva Piletskaya, a resident of Kursk. Prepared by F. Krasotkin, January 28, 1944; 87. The death of my father: The story of Evgeniya Shendels, assistant professor, Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages; 88. The petition: A sketch by Roza Bass of Kursk; 89. They suffered through this themselves: Accounts of Hungarian Jews. Recorded by P. Balashov, December 20, 1942; 90. Murder of the Jews in the Kalinin region: From the notebook of the woman partisan I. Klavdia
VIII. Prisoners of War 91. Glukhov camp: The recollections of M. Yu. Kofman, January 20, 1945; 92. In German captivity, escape, and wandering through Ukraine: A letter from Red Army soldier Alexander Shapiro, November 19, 1942; 93. Rescue from a POW camp in the village of Latonovo, Rostov region: A survivor's account
Review:
'And in the sky, the moon wept / Looking on with pity / Bathing passers-by / With loving radiance. / Here they crammed us in / Like herring into a barrel / Barely, barely did we find shelter / We sat in one corner. / Night fell, outlining / Golden stars /And covered with darkness / Human suffering.' from a poem by Lev Rozhetsky, Odessa schoolboy, August 1944