The Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galicia | Altamira Press

Overview

Altamira Press presents The Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galicia, a carefully structured study that uses one historical diary to open a broader view of life under Nazi occupation in eastern Galicia. Golfard's entries blend immediacy with reflection, capturing moments of fear, resilience, and quiet determination as events unfolded around him.

The volume is not a diary alone. It is complemented by wartime and postwar photographs, newspaper articles, and archival documents that together illuminate the social fabric, the movements of people, and the violence that shaped a region and its memory. The concordance of these materials provides a fuller, more textured sense of everyday life amid upheaval.

What’s inside

• A meticulously kept diary by Samuel Golfard that reveals personal choices, moments of doubt, and acts of endurance.
• A curated array of photographs from the era that document daily life, places, and people in Galicia during upheaval.
• Newspaper clippings and official documents that provide contemporary context and cross-reference events.
• Testimonies and corroborating records that help readers track threads of Jewish life and resistance amid catastrophe.

Context and perspective

Set in eastern Galicia, the material offers a layered view of how individuals navigated danger, sought meaning, and preserved memory under oppressive conditions. The juxtaposition of a personal diary with archival images and articles provides context for both intimate decision-making and the broader historical forces at work.

Who should read this

• Students and educators studying World War II, Holocaust documentation, or Jewish history.
• Researchers seeking primary sources and corroborated narratives about life under occupation.
• General readers curious about human experiences, resilience, and memory in a turbulent era.

Designed to invite careful reading, the book offers potential for classroom discussion, archival research, or reflective study. The combination of diary, photos, and documents presents a nuanced, non-sensational view of a difficult chapter in history and invites readers to explore these sources with curiosity and care.