The author wants the book to be a memorial to all Jews that died on Latvian soil. In the "Preface to the English Edition," the author claims that Latvians, on the whole, are totally anti-Semitic. However, the origins of such beliefs cannot be determined. The author believes this to be true of the Latvians, during pre-WWII Latvia and the new Latvia of the 1990's. I wonder if things are so black and white.

This book is a combination of history and a memoir. There are footnotes and a bibliography. However, if a reader is looking for an objective, historical view of this topic, it is not found here. The author recounts his personal experiences during WWII. It is remarkable how he and other Jews survived.

The author does point out that after WWII, some people who were in a Nazi concentration camps found themselves in Soviet concentration camps.