Dr. Kiril Feferman's fascinating book analyzes the
Soviet Union's treatment of the Holocaust from
1941-1964 through the litmus text of the Babi Yar
massacre of 1941. "In the West, while we are familiar
with the concept of Holocaust denial, the Soviet
concept of Holocaust suppression is quite foreign to
us," explains Feferman, Yad Vashem lecturer,
researcher, and overall expert on the Former Soviet
Union, the Holocaust, and the Second World war.
Feferman attempts to answer such questions as: Why
and how did the Soviet views towards the
extermination of Jews aim at avoiding Nazi
accusations that that the Soviets were fighting a
Jewish war ? Why the Holocaust did not fit in the
simplistic, black-and-white Soviet mindset of "he who
is not with us, is against us ? Finally, Why the
Bolsheviks, who never had any scruples about the many
millions of Soviet civilians they themselves killed,
were forced to accept over time that the Holocaust
had to be treated differently than other, related
topics? Feferman does a masterful job of answering
these questions and many more in this carefully
researched, fascinating work. |