Nazi war criminal's chilling account of Warsaw Ghetto destruction reaches English readers

An uncensored English translation of "Conversations with an Executioner," a harrowing account of the Warsaw Ghetto's destruction, has reached English-speaking readers. The book features the unrepentant confessions of Nazi commander Jürgen Stroop, who led the killing of over 50,000 Jews.

Stroop provided his detailed account to Kazimierz Moczarski, a journalist, Polish resistance leader, and Warsaw Uprising veteran, during their 255 days together in Mokotów Prison in 1949. Moczarski, who had once attempted to assassinate Stroop, documented the Nazi officer's confessions before his own execution.

Despite being censored for years by the Polish Communist regime, which viewed Moczarski's resistance group as a threat, the book has been translated into over 15 languages and adapted for stage and screen. The uncensored English translation, published by Steerforth, an imprint of Pushkin Press, is considered a crucial historical source for understanding the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the psychology of genocide.

"On the one hand, this book is a central historical source for this really important event in the modern history of the world," said Sean Casper Bye, the book's English translator. "And at the same time, it’s one that has continually struggled to get fully into publication." The book's revelations about Stroop, the rise of Nazism, and the motivations behind genocide are finally accessible to English readers after a long delay.

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On the one hand, this book is a central historical source for this really important event in the modern history of the world. And at the same time, it’s one that has continually struggled to get fully into publication.