Surviving the Holocaust : The Kovno Ghetto Diary

by Avraham Tory

This remarkable chronicle of life and death in the Jewish Ghetto of Kovno, Lithuania, from June 1941 to January 1944, was written under conditions of extreme danger by a Ghetto inmate and secretary of the Jewish Council.After the war, in order to escape from Lithuania, the author was forced to entrust the diary to leaders of the Escape movement; eventually it made its way to his new home in Israel. The diary incorporates Avraham Tory's collections of official documents, Jewish Council reports, and original photographs and drawings made in the Ghetto.It depicts in grim detail the struggle for survival under Nazi domination, when - if not simply carted off and murdered in a random "action" - Jews were exploited as slave labor while being systematically starved and denied adequate housing and medical care. Through it all, Tory's overriding purpose was to record the unimaginable events of these years and to memorialize the determination of the Jews to sustain their community life in the midst of the Nazi terror.Of the surviving diaries originating in the principal European Ghettos of this period, Tory's is the longest written by an adult, a dramatic and horrifying document that makes an invaluable contribution to contemporary history. Tory provides an insider's view of the desperate efforts of Ghetto leaders to protect Jews.Martin Gilbert's masterly introduction establishes the authenticity of the diary, presents its events against the backdrop of the war in Europe, and considers the crucial questions of collaboration and resistance.

Genres: Holocaust, History, Nonfiction, Judaica

554 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 1990

Reviews

[LeeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A momentous achievement and invaluable document of history.

A remarkable chronicle of life and death in the Jewish Ghetto of Kovno, Lithuania, from June 1941 to January 1944.

BACKGROUND:

It is important to understand that the rate of Jewish genocide in Lithuania was higher than any other country subjected to the brute force of the Nazi jackboot during the holocaust, including Germany itself.

94% of the Jews in Lithuania were murdered on the eve of the Nazi invasion, not by Germans, but by Lithuanians. The German task force charged with the mission of exterminating Jews in Lithuania came to less than 100 men. According to estimates, Lithuanians murdered, with their own bare hands, up to 400,000 Jews. Even in Germany itself, the casualty rate of Jews was lower.

KOVNO:

The Kovno ghetto was located in the most impoverished section of town. It consisting of small, primitive houses with no running water. It was very overcrowded. Each person was allocated less than 10 square feet of living space. The Germans repeatedly reduced the ghetto's size, forcing Jews to relocate into smaller and smaller spaces several times.

KEY EVENTS:

June 1941 Kovno Ghetto is established by Nazi Germany and Lithuania. At its peak, the ghetto held 40,000 people, most of whom were later sent to extermination camps like Auschwitz, Dachau or executed at the Ninth Fort.

October 28, 1941 The Great Action: 10,000 Kovno Jews (half of them children) were taken to the Ninth Fort and executed. The remaining surviving inhabitants (about 17,412 people) were forced into hard manual labor for the German military. Instead of wages, working Jews were given meager food rations on a starvation level. To stay alive, ghetto inhabitants bartered off their few remaining small possessions for scraps of food that were smuggled into the ghetto at great risk.

Autumn of 1943: The SS assumed official control of the Kovno ghetto and converted it into an concentration camp.

March 27, 1944, the Nazis dragged 1,800 people (infants, children, elderly) out of their homes and shot them. Also executed were 40 officers of the Jewish police, killed for having given direct aid to the anti-Nazi underground in the ghetto.

July 8, 1944, as the Soviet Army approached Kovno the Germans liquidated the camp, deporting most of the remaining Jews to Dachau. Many Jews went into hiding in underground bunkers. The Germans used bloodhounds, smoke grenades and firebombs to force Jews out into the open; 2000 were killed during this process. Another 4,000 were deported to German death camps.

When Kovno was finally liberated by the Russian army, only about 2,000 Kovno Jews of the original 40,000 survived.

[Edmundas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was born in former Jewish Hospital, was growing in former Jewish Ghetto in Kaunas. The street where our house was built previously was called Rabbi Street. It was also hideout where people were hiding during ghetto times near the house. So I had very big personal interest in this book. And it is really powerfull. Especially the beginning. It was also very hard to read due to some horror scenes and a lot of hatred towards Lithuanians is in these pages. Anyway this book deserves much more attention than it has. Even maybe some pages could be included in history schoolbooks. By the way very good introduction article explaining political situation before German ocupation in Lithuanian translation.

[Edward Janes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surviving The Holocaust: The Kovno Ghetto Diary by Avraham Tory (1991, 578 pages).

Detailed, precise, sometimes poetic, The Kovno Ghetto Diary by Avraham Tory is a must read for all those who say "Never Forget" when discussing the crimes of the holocaust.

Painful and tragic, Tory documents in explicit form, a narrative that covers a two and a half year period in Kovno where tens of thousands of Jews were ripped from their families, starved, enslaved, brutalized, and after their utility to the Nazis expired, systematically murdered and defiled even in death.

This extraordinary work was used in whole or part to convict a number of the bloodthirsty criminals in the post-war period. A most important contribution to the holocaust literature database.

[Micebyliz]

I began this book on my Kindle, but now have the hardcover. It's a tedious yet terror filled account of living in the Kovno Ghetto. It reminds me of the diary Victor Klemperer who lived through the war in Berlin. There is the undercurrent of fear and the ever-present knowledge that you can die at any time.
Finished this yesterday. What a grueling read. I think a diary is more exhausting because you are acutely aware of time passing. It's slow and tense so you get no relief.
For anyone who reads Holocaust novels, this would be eye-opening. Novels never give the real story the way a real account does. There are so many would-be stories, i think it best to read the real thing.

[Noah Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable diary from one of the members of the Jewish Council of the Kovno Ghetto. The editors did a fantastic job adding detailed footnotes to nearly every single entry. The year 1942 is filled with mostly terse entries, but by 1943 Tory began writing long, detailed entries. A lawyer by profession, Tory rarely wrote with too much emotion, but when he did he clearly sought to capture the emotion of his community.

This is an absolutely central primary source for the Kovno Ghetto, and alongside Tory’s entries includes many documents and communications between the Council and Gestapo, and official statements and regulations made to the community by the Council or by the Gestapo.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, but extremely hard to read very emotional!

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good diary that immerses the reader in the day-to-day life in the ghetto. It is not a fast read, but worth the read.

[Lewis Biszant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very long and bland. Had to read for history class.