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was able to appreciate the uniqueness of the Ginsburg collection was my mentor, the late Professor David Bankier. He did so during my 2009–10 postdoctoral project “To Stay or To Flee: Soviet Jews in the Northern Caucasus Facing the German Invasion in 1941–42” at Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research. Professor Bankier’s ideas were instrumental in helping me shape the narrative surrounding these letters. In this regard, I would also like to thank the staff of Yad Vashem’s units, most specifically the people at the archives and library, who made my research so enjoyable and exciting.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to Anne Horenstein, my language editor, for meticulously and expertly working on the book. It is a pleasure to acknowledge financial support from Ariel University, which proved indispensable for editing and publishing.
My special thanks are extended to Professor Maxim D. Shrayer (Boston College), editor of the series Jews of Russia and Eastern Europe and Their Legacy from Academic Studies Press, for his encouragement and ability to truly appreciate the tremendous importance of the letters. I would also like to thank Ekaterina Yanduganova at Academic Studies Press for being a most kind, thoughtful, and patient editor.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge my father Mark and my wife Nastya for their support and inspiration while I struggled with my research and writing. I dedicate this book to my mother.
Family Tree
Timeline
| Date | Event |
| August 23, 1939 | Non-Aggression Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) signed |
| September 1, 1939 | World War II begins |
| December 26, 1939 | First letter in the Ginsburg correspondence |
| June 22, 1941 | Start of Soviet-German War. Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union |
| July–August 1941 | David Pinchos conscripted in the army |
| Early August, 1941 | German bombardment of Rostov-on-Don begins |
| Early September, 1941 | German land advance towards the North Caucasus begins |
| September 18, 1941 | Boris Chazkewitz passes away |
| September 19, 1941 | Wehrmacht seizes Kiev |
| September 29–30, 1941 | Murder of more than 33,000 Jews in Kiev |
| October 9, 1941 | The Council for Evacuation approves evacuation of 30,000 women and children from the city of Rostov-on-Don |
| October 13, 1941 | Families of Tamara Meerovich and Tsylya Pinchos are evacuated from Rostov-on-Don to Budennovsk |
| October 17, 1941 | Wehrmacht seizes the city of Taganrog in the Rostov district |
| October 30, 1941 | Murder of more than 1,800 Jews in Taganrog |
| October–November 1941 | Volodya Meerovich fights in the ranks of the “Extermination Battalion”1 defending Rostov-on-Don |
| Mid-November 1941 | The Wehrmacht seizes the Crimean peninsula (except for Sevastopol) |
| November 21–22, 1941 | The Wehrmacht seizes Rostov-on-Don for the first time |
| November 30, 1941 | The Red Army liberates Rostov-on-Don from the Germans |
| December 5, 1941 | German retreat in the Battle of Moscow begins |
| December 13, 1941 | Ban on residents leaving Rostov-on-Don is imposed |
| Late December 1941 | Families of Tamara Meerovich and Tsylya Pinchos move from Budennovsk to Vladikavkaz |
| December 30, 1941 | Soviet forces land in the Crimea, begin their counter-offensive |
| January 1942 | The Wannsee Conference |
| Mid-February 1942 | Ban on residents leaving Rostov-on-Don is moderated |
| February 26, 1942 | David Pinchos is released from the Red Army |
| March 2, 1942 | Volodya Meerovich returns to Rostov-on-Don |
| March 13, 1942 | Tsylya Pinchos’s family returns to Rostov-on-Don |
| April 21, 1942 | Volodya Meerovich is conscripted into the Red Army |
| May 11, 1942 | The Red Army is defeated at Kerch, Crimea |
| Late May 1942 | The Red Army is defeated in the Battle of Kharkov |
| May 29, 1942 | Secret order of the State Defense Committee on the preparation for the disablement of the strategically important oil enterprises in the North Caucasus, and the eviction from the region of “socially dangerous persons,” “unreliable ethnicities,” and foreign citizens |
| May 31, 1942 | Tamara Meerovich’s family returns to Rostov-on-Don |
| June 6, 1942 | “Extermination Battalions” are secretly set up again in Rostov-on-Don |
| July 2, 1942 | The Wehrmacht seizes Sevastopol |
| Early July 1942 | Operation Blau directed at the North Caucasus begins |
| July 7, 1942 | Tamara Meerovich’s family is evacuated to the Rostov district |
| July 14, 1942 | The rest of the Ginsburgs flee from the city to the Rostov district |
| July 18, 1942 | The Soviet Authorities order evacuation of the local residents from the city of Rostov-on-Don |
| July 24–25, 1942 | The Wehrmacht seizes Rostov-on-Don for the second time |
| August 11–14, 1942 | Jews of Rostov-on-Don murdered |
| August 16, 1942 | The Ginsburgs are murdered |
| August 1942 | The Battle of Stalingrad begins |
| Early February 1943 | The German Sixth Army surrenders at Stalingrad |
| February 14, 1943 | The Red Army liberates Rostov-on-Don from the Germans |
