This account of the ordered destruction of a Jewish community takes dry statistics and puts real faces and names on people that could have been grandparents and relatives. The hardest part to comprehend is that the murders were carried out by former neighbors and friends, not the Germans. Originally read for family history research, but after finding stories and faces of what once were just names on a genealogical chart, has personalized the Holocaust as never before experienced. This book is an honor to the memory of those who perished and a testimony to those who survived under unbelieveable odds and to now have the courage to tell this story. A must read to understand what went on outside of the walls of the concentration camps throughout Europe.

This is a great tool to help you learn Russian, and is even more helpful when used in conjunction with the workbook that goes along with it. After reading this book (and doing the workbook excercises) you will have a fairly good ability to communicate in Russian about common subjects. A good thing about this book is that its author, Olga Kagan, (who I studied under at UCLA) adheres to the philosophy that learning a language shouldn't be done through mere translation (this-English-word=that-Russian-word), but should be approached by taking the words in context and by seeing how Russian phrases/words are used, and not just what they mean. The only thing lacking from this book is that there aren't enough oral exercises, but overall, if you already know basic Russian and want to move to the next level, this is an excellent way to do it.