Bialystok to Birkenau: The Holocaust Journey of Michel Mielnicki

J.L. Granatstein, distinguished research professor emeritus of history
at York University. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and
co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influential Canadians of the
20th Century, Prime Ministers: Ranking

There are many Holocaust memoirs, but this one by Michel Mielnicki
stands out. The reason is that Mielnicki, a successful furrier who now
lives in British Columbia, had the good sense to work with a good
historian. A much-published author, John Munro led Mielnicki through 80
gruelling hours of interviews, and he had access to some personal
documents and the vast Holocaust literature. The result is tough-minded,
historically accurate, and very interesting indeed. His family
Communist, Mielnicki pulls no punches in discussing the murderous
attitudes of Polish neighbors in Wasilkow, near Bialystok, before,
during, and after the war, and he is equally unsparing in his criticisms
of the way British troops behaved when they liberated his camp in 1945.
But his sharpest comments, naturally enough, are saved for the Nazis who
created a monstrous system of death. Mielnicki survived only through
luck and pluck, and in Canada he became a worker in Holocaust education.
His book is a splendid text for others engaged in that task.