The Crime and the Silence

Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne

By: Anna Bikont, Alissa Valles - translator

Narrated by: David Stifel

Length: 22 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

A monumental work of nonfiction on a wartime atrocity, its 60-year denial, and the impact of its truth.

Jan Gross' hugely controversial Neighbors was a historian's disclosure of the events in the small Polish town of Jedwabne on July 10, 1941, when the citizens rounded up the Jewish population and burned them alive in a barn. The massacre was a shocking secret that had been suppressed for more than 60 years, and it provoked the most important public debate in Poland since 1989.

From the outset Anna Bikont reported on the town, combing through archives and interviewing residents who had survived the war period. Her writing became a crucial part of the debate and she herself an actor in a national drama.

Part history, part memoir, The Crime and the Silence is the journalist's account of these events: both the story of the massacre, told through oral histories of survivors and witnesses, and a portrait of a Polish town coming to terms with its dark past. Including the perspectives of both heroes and perpetrators, Bikont chronicles the sources of the hatred that exploded against Jews and asks what myths grow on hidden memories, what destruction they cause, and what happens to a society that refuses to accept a horrific truth.

A profoundly moving exploration of being Jewish in modern Poland that Julian Barnes called "one of the most chilling books", The Crime and the Silence is a vital contribution to Holocaust history and a fascinating story of a town coming to terms with its dark past.

©2004 Anna Bikont (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

A masterpiece

As the headline says, this is a masterwork of journalism and history. I could not praise a book more.

Tough subject!

Very difficult to listen to but important in understanding what happened in 1941. Narration was excellent.

Nothing like you expect. And that’s not a good thing.

I was looking so forward to listening to this book when I found it. This chronicles one of the most atrocious periods in history, and you go into this book thinking it will be an account of what happened. It’s nothing like that. It’s a warbling mess, flashing back and forth from 2001 to accounts from the Jedwabne massacre. And other events that aren’t related. And the listener has no idea what is going on. It’s impossible to follow.

I’m so sad because I just couldn’t finish the book. I hate not finishing one I’ve started. I would have loved to give it a five star rating. Maybe in book form it easier to follow. The narrator is okay, but the problems are not of his making.

So bad I stopped listening

What disappointed you about The Crime and the Silence?

I couldn't figure out when things were happening. The narrative kept jumping back and forth like the author couldn't decide how to organize the story.

Would you be willing to try another one of David Stifel’s performances?

I would be willing to listen to another of Stifel's performances. He wasn't the best narrator ever, but he was pretty good.

Any additional comments?

I really wanted to like this book and was looking forward to listening to it. I almost never quit on a book, but after 3 hours, I stopped listening. I couldn't follow what was going on or when things were happening. I think the book would have been better without all of the jumping back and forth in time.