Memoirs of a Jewish District Attorney from Soviet Ukraine

“Mikhail Goldis'  memoirs, superbly translated by his grandson Marat Grinberg, provide a gripping account of the life of a Jewish prosecutor and detective in the former Soviet Ukraine. Goldis' many insights into the complexity of the Soviet Jewish experience make this book especially rewarding.”

— Samuel D. Kassow, Professor of History, Trinity College

“Seemingly straightforward and unpretentious, Mikhail Goldis’s memoir is packed with intriguing characters, psychological insights, and breathtaking narrative twists. Students of Soviet Ukrainian post-WWII history, Jewish and memory studies and all those who enjoy mystery and suspense won’t be able to put this book aside. Kudos to Marat Grinberg on this excellent translation which brings his grandfather’s captivating text to the English-speaking audience!”

— Radislav Lapushin, Associate Professor of Russian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“Among the growing number of memoirs and documents of post-WWII Soviet Jewish life available in English, few approach the liveliness, nuance, and novelistic suspense of Mikhail Goldis’s Memoirs of a Jewish District Attorney from Soviet Ukraine. Elegantly translated, edited, and introduced by Marat Grinberg, Goldis’s grandson and one of the leading scholars of Soviet Jewry, the book offers not only sustained sensitive reflections on history, justice, and identity, but also a collection of true crime stories that ought to satisfy the most discerning fans of that genre. Readers will come away with a deeper appreciation of the richly varied, intertwined lives Jews and ethnic Ukrainians led under Soviet rule.”

— Boris Dralyuk, translator of Isaac Babel, Andrey Kurkov, and other authors