The Zookeeper’s Wife
Book reviews are usually assigned to reviewers who know something about the subject at hand. Film reviews? Not so much. So CR takes a look at The Zookeeper’s Wife… and also some of the reviews.
Book reviews are usually assigned to reviewers who know something about the subject at hand. Film reviews? Not so much. So CR takes a look at The Zookeeper’s Wife… and also some of the reviews.
Germany’s genocidal colonialism in occupied Poland was the “Heart of Darkness” in its relentless exploitation and brutality. The Dark Heart of Hitler’s Europe provides essential context to understanding the individual atrocities of that period.
CR takes this opportunity to publish a letter written by Eli Rubenstein, the Canadian Director of the March of the Living and an award-winning educator, to the JTA (Jewish Telegraph Agency) concerning its Dec. 11th article about Polish rescue efforts of Jews during WWII, followed by our own comments.
In 1938, a little girl, Alina Bandrowska, saw her father arrested by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. He never returned.
Commemorations hold a special place in national memory; historians have an obligation to protect the emerging social history from being eclipsed. Tom Frydel explains.
A special event in San Francisco honoured Jan Karski, and veterans of two allied countries, Poland and the United States. A great thing to do, especially together.
Why are Stalin’s alliance with Hitler and his genocidal policies overlooked, even denied? Reviewing Black Ribbon Day, Michał Kasprzak suggests “the nightmarish partnership of tyrannies” needs more attention.
It took Poland fifty years to regain its freedom. For many Poles it took even longer to liberate their memories. Marian Wiacek recorded his for his grandchildren.
“Tell your people that they have a friend in the White House.” But the genocide continued, and in the end the friend gave Karski’s country to Stalin.
This is a war story that unites the fate of soldiers and civilians. Thank you, Norman Davies, for gathering the memoirs, the photographs, and the historian’s details, and telling the story with such élan. Now where’s the young historian who will break new ground and write a scholarly work on this neglected subject?
Miron Białoszewski’s memoir of the 63 days of terror endured by civilians during the Warsaw Uprising is a difficult but essential book. Kudos to NYRB for this new edition, translated by Madeline G. Levine.
The Canadian segment of the March of the Living and the March of Remembrance and Hope, under the direction of Eli Rubenstein, commemorates, educates and celebrates life with love and respect for all people in our troubled world.
Joshua Zimmerman’s groundbreaking book carries out “two fundamental tasks of the historian: restoring the buried sense of historical contingency and recognizing the human proportion of experiences still painfully fresh.” Tom Frydel reviews.