Reuven Dafni (1913–2005)

A collection of letters and notes written by Holocaust victims, most but not all of them Jews, shortly before their deaths. Some are proper letters that were mailed to relatives in other countries (chiefly America and Palestine), some are postcards sent from camps, and some are just scraps. A few were actually thrown from the cattle cars en route to the extermination camps, and Good Samaritans found them and mailed them. Each letter is prefaced with a little note about who wrote it, their ultimate fate (if known), and sometimes photos.

The content of the letters varies. While many of them are explicit farewells, in some cases the authors were unaware that they were being sent to their deaths. One letter at the end of the book describes, in the most graphic terms, sexual abuse of Jews perpetrated by Germans and Lithuanians.

I would recommend this as a supplement to other Holocaust documents, like diaries and so on. It really doesn't stand very well on its own: it's too slim and lacking in context.… (meer)