This unusual and complex project is the work of a professor of International Law. It is, perhaps mainly, an attempt to discuss the historical circumstances of the coming of the legal concepts of genocide and crimes against humanity, mostly by discussing the lives of the two men associated with these concepts, Raphael Lemkin and Hersch Lauterpacht, both originally from the town of Lemberg or Lviv in Galicia. These men’s lives were interrupted by the Nazis, and their concepts ultimately came to fruition at the Nuremberg trials, where what had happened to them and their families was partially distilled into these ideas, which were used to justify the execution of a handful of Nazi bigwigs. If that were all that this book was, I don’t think I would care for it very much. I am not an attorney, and although these concepts are obviously important to the author, I think they are not sufficiently explained in some logical legal context, and their discussion becomes tedious. After a while it just becomes an account of Lemkin’s and Lauterpacht’s maneuvers to get their idea used at the trial. But, the book is also several other things; it is a fascinating detective story describing the author’s search for facts about his own maternal grandfather’s life; it is a biography of Hans Frank, the Governor-General of the General Government (the part of occupied Poland that had not been absorbed by Germany), and a man intimately associated with the destruction of these men’s families; it is a behind the scenes view of what went on among the judges and prosecutors at Nuremberg; and, since the author leaves no stone unturned, it is also his captivating accounts of interviews with survivors and relatives of all of these people. ( )

En drivende og medrivende beretning - en start med to unge menn fra Polen et sted via mellomkrigstiden, utbruddet av 2.verdenskrig, et rettsoppgjør, internasjonale rettstribunaler og det fortsatte arbeidet med forbrytelser mot menneskeheten. Her vandrer vi i tid og gjennom ulike mennesker og skjebner. Et nitidig sporingsarbeid, dokumentarbeid, tyding av skrift, fotografier og personlige beretninger - der noen satt langt inne og noen ble bevart der inne. At en folkerettsjurist her også behandler språket så levende og varsomt, er bare en nytelse å lese. Når personer ellers karakteriseres, er det oftest via andre enn forfatteren.

An outstanding read. ( )

Absolutely fascinating! It was hard to put down - it reads almost like a thriller, even though it isn't fiction. Philippe Sands weaves together the stories of his grandparents, the two lawyers who came up with the concepts of genocide and crimes against humanity, and the Nazi commander in Poland during World War 2. It all culminates in the Nuremburg trials.
Sands research is meticulous, and it is incredible how much he is able to find out from a few initial clues. Informative as well as exciting.
The reason I picked up this book is that I listened to his BBC podcast series "The Ratline", where he investigates what happened to Otto von Wächter, another high-ranking Nazi in Poland during the war. Equally fascinating. ( )

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3497644.html

A great book by international human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, which looks at his own family history and the background of two hugely significant international lawyers, Hersch Lauterpacht, who successfully promoted human rights as an international responsibility, and Raphael Lemkin, who developed the legal concept of genocide, and how they intertwined in the city of Lviv (as it now is) and the nearby town of Zhovka/Żółkiew. He also throws into the mix Hans Frank, the Nazi ruler of Poland, and his sidekick Otto von Wächter, both of whom have surviving sons whose takes on their fathers' careers are grimly different from each other. Carefully reconstructed from letters, photographs, documentation and memories, and framed by the Nuremberg trial of Hans Frank for crimes against humanity, it's a superb account of how ordinary enough circumstances can transform into horror and also generate genius. ( )