Creator Bio
Vasily Grossman
1905–1964
Vasily Grossman was born in Berdichev, Ukraine, to an assimilated Jewish family. He attended university in Moscow and worked as a chemist; however, he became a writer, often exploring Jews and social issues. During World War II he served as a front-line newspaper correspondent. He was also a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, and contributed, with Ilya Ehrenburg, to Chernaia kniga (The Black Book), outlining Russian anti-Jewish policies. After the war, Grossman continued not to be shy about expressing his views on Soviet antisemitism, and he refused to be censored.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
In the Town of Berdichev
Vasily Grossman began his literary career with the publication of In the Town of Berdichev in 1934. This book dichotomously validates the experiences of Jewish families and Russian Revolutionaries dur
Primary Source
Life and Fate
Never, before the war, had Viktor thought about the fact that he was a Jew, that his mother was a Jew. Never had his mother spoken to him about it—neither during his childhood, nor during his years as…