The Jews who lived in the region called eastern Poland in the inter-war period num - bered about 1.3 million, and constituted one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Like the other Jews of Poland, they suffered almost total annihilation at the hands of the Nazis. But the circumstances in which this tragedy occurred were unique. Not only did the Jews of eastern Poland have to contend with the Germans, they had to deal with the Poles and Soviets as well. And the triangular relationship of Jews, Poles, and Soviets in the context of the Second World War is the focus of the papers in this volume.

Half of the fourteen papers are based on presentations delivered at the Conference on the History and Culture of Polish Jews, held in Jerusalem in 1988. The other papers were included to provide a fuller treatment of the topic. An extensive but balanced and informative introduction by the editors synthesizes the major points in each paper and highlights the most important and controversial issues. These issues include the role of the Jews in the Soviet administration of eastern Poland, the relationship between Poles and Jews under Soviet occupation (especially the creation of the Anders Army, repatriation from the USSR, and the role of Jewish Communists in the formation of the Soviet-sponsored Polish army), and in Soviet preparations for the occupation of Poland in 1944. Papers by Jan Gross and Aharon Weiss treat, respectively, the political and socio-economic plight of Jews under Soviet occupation. A series of briefer papers deals with population statistics, Jewish issues in Polish literature of the period, the response of Jews in Soviet-occupied lands to Nazi exterminations, Jewish resistance, and the efforts to organize aid for Jewish Polish refugees in the USSR.

The final five papers concentrate on the activities of Jewish and Polish refugees and deportees in the USSR. On the whole, the articles are objective and often based on sources that are not easily accessible. The final section of the book, consisting of about 150 pages, contains very informative documents. Although some of these have already been published in Hebrew, they appear here in English translation for the first time.