Volume 37, Number 17 · November 8, 1990
Heroism in Hell
By István Deák
Surviving the Holocaust: The Kovno Ghetto Diary
by Avraham Tory, translated by Jerzy Michalowicz
Harvard University Press, 578 pp., $34.95
Kovno, Kaunas, Kowno, Kauen: all denote a single city in Lithuania that, in typical East European fashion, has gone by many names. 'Kovno' is Russian and Jewish, bringing to mind the long periods of Russian domination and the ancient but now defunct Jewish presence there. 'Kaunas' is Lithuanian and draws attention to that small nation, which in recent history lost, regained, lost again, and may soon recover its independence. 'Kowno' is Polish, evoking the many centuries of Polish-Lithuanian joint rule but also Polish expansion into the region. Finally, 'Kauen' is German, recalling the Germans who had a part in building the city and were merchants there, but also Nazi occupation. The city is said to derive its name from a Prince Koinas who allegedly founded it in 1030.
Review, 6605 words
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