The Ravine: A family, a photograph, a Holocaust massacre revealed

Description

A strikingly original book about a terrible photograph - an exceptionally rare image documenting the horrific final moment of the murder of a family in Ukraine. A Times Book of the Year 'A very rare kind of picture... To the murdered others, this book is an act of restitution' David Aaronovitch, The Times 'Detective work of the highest and most gripping order' Philippe Sands 'Lower's pursuit of the truth is both captivating and meticuous' TLS 'Extraordinary and spell-binding' Daily Mail 'One photograph. That's what it took to start Wendy Lower on an incredible journey of discovery' Deborah Lipstadt The terrible mass shootings in Poland and the Ukraine are often neglected in studies of the Holocaust, because the perpetrators were meticulously careful to avoid leaving any evidence of their actions. Wendy Lower stumbled across one such piece of evidence - a photograph documenting the shooting of a mother and her children and the men who killed them - and has crafted a forensically brilliant and moving study that brings the larger horror of the genocide into focus. Shortlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown.

Wendy Lower is the author of the National Book Award and National Jewish Book Award finalist Hitler's Furies, which has been translated into twenty-three languages. Recently the acting director of the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Lower is the John K. Roth Professor of History and director of the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College.

A very rare kind of picture... A quest that would last, off and on, for more than a decade... To the murdered others, this book is an act of restitution -- David Aaronovitch, Book of the Week, The Times [Lower] hopes to recreate the details of that day in Miropol and thus reveal the networks of complicity that made the Holocaust possible. Here, she succeeds with a vengeance * New York Times * A forensic look at the Holocaust in Ukraine... The combination of Lower's original conceit and careful but compelling prose provides a powerful new route into this neglected area of Holocaust history' * Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown Shortlist * Lower's pursuit of the truth is both captivating and meticulous as she attempts to find answers to these questions... Reads like a compelling detective novel' * TLS * 'An extraordinary and spell-binding new book' Daily Mail. * Daily Mail * A riveting and extraordinary expression of historical excavation and literary non-fiction - detective work of the highest and most gripping order -- Philippe Sands, author of East West Street Lower certainly leaves no stone unturned as she recounts her mission in this fascinating book * Jewish News * Lower meticulously probes the background of the photo, which was dated October 13, 1941 and labeled 'Miropol' * Times of Israel * An important and moving contribution to Holocaust literature. The Ravine demonstrates how meticulous research, seventy years after the murder took place, can lift the veil of anonymity from both victims and perpetators -- Jan T. Gross, author of Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland Seventy years after the crime, Lower, a historian dedicated to unveiling truths, solves what would otherwise have remained a 'cold case'. Her story is breathtaking -- Father Patrick Desbois, author of The Holocaust by Bullets One photograph. That was what it took to start Wendy Lower on an incredible journey of discovery... The Ravine is a compelling read that is micro and macro history at its very best' -- Deborah Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism: Here and Now A compelling and forensic investigation of mass shooting during the Holocaust in Ukraine. Lower turns detective and works from a single photograph to uncover the truth about a previously unknown atrocity. Brilliant microhistory * Aspects of History * A forensic look at the Holocaust in Ukraine * Spectator * The gargantuan horror of the Holocaust is distilled through a meticulous reconstruction of a single shocking crime. Justice, although delayed, is achieved, but that horror lurks like a menacing fog * The Times, '21 best history books of 2021' *