"Last Witnesses" by Svetlana Alexievich
Release Date: 8.31.2021

Svetlana Alexievich shares the traumatic memories of children during World War II. These stories are astounding. Most children were separated from their families, growing up in orphanages or with grandparents, extended family, or even strangers.

Originally released in Russia in the 1980s, this English translated copy is heartbreaking. Ms. Alexievich interviews 100 adults featured in this book as children, discussing their memories of war and the Nazi invasion of Russia.


Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for my review.

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In Svetlana Alexievich's newest addition to this genre, The Last Witnesses, the author gives an austere look at a population often overlooked during wartime, the children. Recorded in a journalistic style, Alexievich offers a first-hand account of children inside the Soviet Union during World War II. Like black-and-white photographs in a retrospective exhibit, the author offers no commentary or explanation, merely a few pages of historical background, and then releases her readers into the mind of a child. What follows is a freefall into a narrative that bounces back and forth between ages, locations, and personalities. A stark but strangely sympathetic picture of those caught within the net of war, this is a book educators will enjoy. Useful as a reference and a catalyst for classroom discussion, The Last Witnesses is a book worth adding to any classroom library.