Sir – There is perhaps one aspect of your review (July 5) of Antony Beevor’s The Second World War that needs some clarification. The Vasily Grossman quote given could not have been written by Grossman ‘after witnessing the horrors of the Treblinka death camp’. The Treblinka extermination camp was destroyed in the late summer of 1943 (see also Martin Gilbert’s The Holocaust). The Red Army occupied the area in which Treblinka was located in late July 1944.
According to Beevor, Grossman’s knowledge of the horrors of Treblinka was gained by sitting in on Red Army interrogations of camp guards and survivors from the work camp adjacent to the extermination camp.
G. Leeson , Cowley
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here