On September 29 and 30 1941 more than 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered in Babyn Yar, a gorge near Kiev. This event constituted the largest single massacre perpetrated by German troops against Jews during World War II. In commemoration, a synagogue designed in the shape of a book will open on the same site in 2021. When opened, the book building’s inner space and its furnishings unfold. This impressive movable structure was designed by Manuel Herz, whose studio runs offices in Basel and Cologne. This book for the first time shows the Babyn Yar synagogue captured in photographs by celebrated architectural photographer Iwan Baan, as well as through plans and model photos. Yet the core part of the book tells the story of the Jewish people and of Judaism through the medium of space: the Jewish concept of space from biblical times to the present. Space as a leitmotif is understood in broad terms here: territorially, architecturally, psychologically, theologically, intellectually, as well as pertaining to the persecution of the Jewish people. Rather than in an abstract treatise, this story is told through 135 brief and engaging texts by Robert Jan van Pelt, a leading Holocaust researcher and professor of architecture. Each of these reflections is illustrated with drawings and watercolours by New York-based artist Mark Podwal, who is known for his illustration of Elie Wiesel’s works.

This is the catalogue of the first-ever travelling exhibition about the Auschwitz concentration camp, where 1.1 million people - mostly Jews, but also non-Jewish Poles, Roma, and others - lost their lives.More than 280 objects and images from the exhibition are illustrated herein. Drawn from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and other collections around the world, they range from the intimate (such as victims' family snapshots and personal belongings) to the immense (an actual surviving barrack from the Auschwitz III-Monowitz satellite camp); all are eloquent in their testimony. An authoritative yet accessible text weaves the stories behind these artefacts into an encompassing history of Auschwitz - from a Polish town at the crossroads of Europe, to the dark center of the Holocaust, to a powerful site of remembrance. Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away. is an essential volume for everyone who is interested in history and its lessons.