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The Last Days of the Jerusalem of Lithuania: Chronicles from the Vilna Ghetto and the Camps, 1939-1944
For five horrifying years in Vilna, the Vilna ghetto, and concentration camps in Estonia, Herman Kruk recorded his own experiences as well as the life and death of the Jewish community of the city symbolically called “The Jerusalem of Lithuania.” This unique chronicle includes many recovered pages of Kruk’s diaries and provides a powerful eyewitness account of the annihilation of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. This volume includes the Yiddish edition of Kruk’s diaries, published in 1961 and translated here for the first time, as well as many widely scattered pages of the chronicles, collected here for the first time and meticulously deciphered, translated and annotated.
Kruk describes vividly the collapse of Poland in September, 1939, life as a refugee in Vilna, the manhunt that destroyed most of Vilna Jewry in the summer of 1941, the creation of a ghetto and the persecution and self-rule of the remnants of the “Jerusalem of Lithuania,” the internment of the last survivors in concentration camps in Estonia, and their brutal deaths. Kruk scribbled his final diary entry on September 17, 1944, managing to bury the small, loose pages of his manuscript just hours before he and other camp inmates were shot to death and their bodies burnt on a pyre.
Kruk’s writings illuminate the tragedy of the Vilna Jews and their courageous efforts to maintain an ideological, social, and cultural life even as their world was being destroyed. To read Kruk’s day-by-day account of the unfolding of the Holocaust is to discern the possibilities for human courage and perseverance even in the face of profound fear.
Kruk describes vividly the collapse of Poland in September, 1939, life as a refugee in Vilna, the manhunt that destroyed most of Vilna Jewry in the summer of 1941, the creation of a ghetto and the persecution and self-rule of the remnants of the “Jerusalem of Lithuania,” the internment of the last survivors in concentration camps in Estonia, and their brutal deaths. Kruk scribbled his final diary entry on September 17, 1944, managing to bury the small, loose pages of his manuscript just hours before he and other camp inmates were shot to death and their bodies burnt on a pyre.
Kruk’s writings illuminate the tragedy of the Vilna Jews and their courageous efforts to maintain an ideological, social, and cultural life even as their world was being destroyed. To read Kruk’s day-by-day account of the unfolding of the Holocaust is to discern the possibilities for human courage and perseverance even in the face of profound fear.
732 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1961
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 8, 2022
I want to start by saying how glad I am to have read this book. When Kruk went in to the ghetto, he knew his chances of surviving were small. But he was determined that the story of his community would live on. And it did. Against all odds, most of his diaries have been found and published. I was honored to have read his words and know his story.
That being said-this book was not written by a polished author. It was not edited for content, fact checked, or even proofread. Pages are missing and the narrative sometimes cuts off mid-page where damage to the original was extensive. It is very biased and based solely on Mr Kruk’s observations. He often admits to not knowing the whole story and that shows in his writing. The book is at times very difficult to read-not for those looking for a light read or an easy read.
But for those dedicated history readers who want to know the feelings, emotions and turmoil experienced by the Jews in the Holocaust-this is a priceless tome.
That being said-this book was not written by a polished author. It was not edited for content, fact checked, or even proofread. Pages are missing and the narrative sometimes cuts off mid-page where damage to the original was extensive. It is very biased and based solely on Mr Kruk’s observations. He often admits to not knowing the whole story and that shows in his writing. The book is at times very difficult to read-not for those looking for a light read or an easy read.
But for those dedicated history readers who want to know the feelings, emotions and turmoil experienced by the Jews in the Holocaust-this is a priceless tome.
November 2, 2019
An amazing find....ordered from Sweden and devoured this gripping chronicle of life in the Vilna Ghetto and then in camps in and near Riga. Again the overwhelming realization of how much was lost in the Shoah.
December 5, 2023
There's a lot here.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews