Front and Civilian Rear Correspondence, 1941–1945

The series focuses on the evolution of Jewish language, literature, communal life and religious ideology outside of the Land of Israel and in relation to it. The approach is inter-disciplinary with an emphasis on mutual influences between Jews and their non-Jewish environment. The series welcomes studies that span different periods and a variety of geographical areas.

This monograph deals with the contribution of Soviet Jews, soldiers and commanders in the Red Army, to the victory over Nazi Germany as reflected through the private correspondence between the front and the civilian rear. The basis for the research is the author's unique collection of personal items (letters, diaries, documents, and photographs) of Jews who served in the Red Army and members of their families. This collection was supplemented by archival documents and information obtained from academic and popular publications, periodicals, and memoirs of the participants in the war and their families.
The book elucidates a wide spectrum of topics related to the work of the military field post. The topics encompass not only battles but also everyday military life, soldiers' personal lives, relations between men and women, the work of the military censorship, letters of Soviet soldiers and officers in Yiddish, and Soviet Jews’ correspondence with foreign entities.