Hoffman has written an in-depth look at the history of one Shtetl, Bransk, in eastern Poland. She covers hundreds of years, from the earliest settlement to the destruction of Bransk I during the Holocaust.

Hoffman is mostly even-handed yet doesn’t gloss over the centuries of abuse and cruelty toward the Jews of Bransk and Poland in general. This is a very difficult book to read but it’s a valuable addition to Holocaust literature and to tooth Jewish and Polish history. The author saw a documentary about Bransk and was so interested that she followed it up with much in-person research.

Highly recommended, not least for its look at how mindless hatred and political manipulation can cause unspeakable tragedies. ( )

Inspired by a documentary Hoffman saw on Frontline, this is the biography of Bransk, a Polish town that no longer exists thanks to the thoroughness of the Nazis under Russian rule. One of the most difficult segments to read was the recounting of young Bransk boys conscripted into the Russian army. They were religiously converted away from their birthright and upon returning home, shunned by their own people.
As an aside, I am afraid of cult figures and the power they can wield over seemingly intelligent people. I was surprised to learn of a man in the 1750s by the name of Jakub Frank who claimed he was the Messiah. He wanted to rule all of Poland and had a strong sexual appetite for young girls and orgies. ( )

fine picture of a vanished world, though it fades from memory rathe quickly ( I read it some weeks before writing this). what remains: how totally that world has vanished ( the Nazis were thorough); the shtetl was in Poland under Russian rule ( I mistakenly thought it was in Russia); the ones who escaped the Nazis did so through a combination of luck and strong character (just one of those was not enough). ( )

Story of Bransk. Description of the culture and conflicts that influenced Christian villagers in making decisions to conceal or betray Jews when the Nazis invaded.

Good short history of the culture of the shtetl. ( )