Welcome to Litsy!

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

📕 East West Street by Philippe Sands
🖊 Erdrich, Louise
📺 Elementary
🎙 Ella Fitzgerald
🎶 Electric Feel - MGMT

#ManicMonday #LetterE
@CBee

This is an astounding memoir of the search for family bylawyer who specializes in international law. His finds out his relatives lived on the same street as two legal experts who defined and introduced the concept of crimes against humanity and genocide first used in the Nuremberg war crimes trials. The mix of an emotional personal journey as he tracks the fate of his relatives, and the scholarship and legal parsing to define both crimes: amazing

Had the joy of hearing Professor Sands talk about his astonishing book in a lecture at the law faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem last night. After he graciously signed my copy, he introduced my wife and me to former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Bach, aged 92, who was one of the prosecutors of Adolf Eichmann back in 1961. Wonderful evening.

A brilliant piece of writing that combines incredibly moving history of the personal impact of the holocaust with an interesting analysis of how the contradictory legal concepts of 'crimes against humanity' and 'genocide' were created by 2 very different lawyers who escape from lwow in the 1930's leaving family behind. Told by the author an international law barrister whose gfather escaped from the same city it considers their lives as well as⏬

If you haven't listened to the bbc radio 4 series ratlines id thoroughly recommend it and as i start this book today by phlippe sands i can hear his voice vividly in my head. As i read the difference between 'crimes against humanity' and 'genocide' and then move into the story of sands's grandfather's life in lvov i am already totally absorbed but know this will be a difficult yet incredibly written book.

An incredibly detailed, fascinating, yet heartbreaking book on the legal, political, and personal circumstances of the terms 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity' and the individuals behind these terms. As well as this, the book is also a memoir of the authors grandfather, who too faced the horror of the influence of Nazi Germany.

Busy shift at work today (ended up staying behind an extra hour). At least I'm back home, fed, and in my pyjamas. The plan for the rest of this evening is to finish this. I have just under 50 pages to go so I reckon I can smash it. #eastweststreet #philippesands #amreading

For anyone who enjoyed East West Street you may also enjoy Philippe Sands Radio 4 show which explores some of the same characters #philippesands #eastweststreet #radio #nazi #worldwartwo #warcrimes

This was such a rewarding read! I find history quite hard to plough through sometimes but this was a dream to read, such heavy topics covered with so much humanity and so much detail. It was serious and well-researched but never difficult to get through.

Still raining in England. That makes it about two weeks straight now?

Really enjoying East West Street, only as I‘m reading it am I realising how incredibly little I knew about Eastern Europe during/after the Second World War. I‘m grateful to the writer for making this so readable

Been wanting to read this for ages! I really want to make an effort to read more history and this looks like it will have just the right amount of history vs personal story.

Beautiful setting for a read #beach #sun #summer

Sangria in Spain, enjoying East West Street but it's taking me a while to read #spain #eastweststreet

Arrived at Leeds station more than an hour early. Good excuse for a cuppa and a good book #eastweststreet #tea #english

Finally getting round to reading East West Street which I picked up at Hay festival back in May. I was also lucky enough to see Sands speak, meet him and get my book signed. Can't wait to read it! #eastweststreet #history #ww2 #holocaust

One of my own books, I have been distracted by shiny new ones from the library!

It's been an amazing weekend at Hay. So sad to be headed home, definitely planning on making this a yearly trip #hayonwye #hayfestival #hay30 #literaturefestival #stephenfry #philippesands #harrietharman #laurabates #politics #feminism

So many good books and not enough money to buy them all.😣 #hayonwye #literaturefestival

So many books. Loving how everyone is sat reading. It'd be great if life was like this all the time #hayonwye #hayliteraturefestival #literaturefestival #books

Definitely looking forward to reading this.

The book is about protection of individuals (crimes against humanity) vs. groups (genocide). These concepts were developed and helped introduce at the trials by the Polish lawyers Lauterpacht and Lemkin, respectively, who lost their families directly because of one of the defendant's, Hans Frank: Hitler's lawyer, then Governor General of occupied Poland. The book is also a personal account of their lives.

None of the high Nazi officers on trial in Nuremberg was convicted of genocide! I'm still shocked.

The wife of Krakow's Nazi Governor - the Austrian Von Wächter - was particularly proud that the jewish ghetto had a beautiful wall with "elegant curves and graceful battlements."

"The coming together of the lives of Frank, Lauterpacht, and Lemkin was formalized in the Nuremberg's Palace of Justice in the words of the indictment."

A compelling explanation of the meaning/history of the terms 'crimes against humanity' and 'genocide' and the opposing men/philosophies that birthed these terms. Normally I don't enjoy when a non-fiction writer inserts themselves into the narrative (if it isn't a memoir) but I found Sands' juxtaposition of these complex men and his own family history to be not only relevant but fascinating. A really great book that I hope gets a wider readership.

From closing statement @ Nuremberg Trials.
"They stand before the record of this trial as blood-stained Gloucester stood by the body of his slain King. He ·begged of
the widow, as they beg of you: "Say I slew them not." And the Queen replied,
"Then say they were not slain. But dead they are-"
If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty, it would be as true
to say there has been no war, there are no slain, there has been no crime."

From May 2016 Vanity Fair interview with Sands about the book. This quote seemed especially timely to me given current climate. Normalization enables brutalization.

On vacation in Budapest and couldn't help but wander into this bookstore (even though I packed 5 hardcovers and my Nook!). What can I say, I'm a junkie. Just had to find the fairly small "foreign language" section for books in English ?. This one jumped out at me!

As I have indexed several tomes on the holocaust and human rights, this book caught my eye immediately. I am half way into the book and find it fascinating and compelling.