In my last book, I described my partner, Peter Dorfman, as extraordinarily smart, kind, daring, and funny. He hasn’t changed. In fact, he has only become more so — living with him is an exhilarating experience, and his comments on the manuscript were invaluable. Other people I cherish include Daniel McCormack, Julia Dorfman, Ben Ferdinand, Elijah Ferdinand, Sacha Ferdinand, and Naomi McCormack — people who admittedly had nothing to do with the book directly, but who are so dear that they enrich my life and hence my writing immeasurably. I have also been inspired by the Jewish side of my family, especially my grandfather, Jules Herman, a tailor who came from Belarus.
Of the people who did have something to do with the book directly, I want to thank first the experts who read and provided crucial observations on the manuscript: Professor Lynne Viola, whose book Stalinist Perpetrators on Trial was the source of much of my information about the Stalinist purges and the NKVD, including the “physical measures of persuasion”; and Max Wolpert, former counsel to the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section of the Department of Justice. Other experts who were extremely helpful were immigration and refugee lawyer Barbara Jackman, criminal lawyer Donald Bayne, and (then) PhD student Aleksandra Pomiecko. It goes almost without saying that any errors and liberties taken are my own.
More specifically, the doctor’s evidence is inspired by the testimony of Volha Barouskaya, parts of the bookkeeper’s affidavit were informed by Professor Viola’s series on the Oxford University Press blog Academic Insights for the Thinking World and the quotes in regard to hearsay were taken from a turn-of-the-century article by John Wigmore in the Harvard Law Review. One of the quotes about glass is from Curiosities of Industry, an 1858 volume by George Dodd, and, of course, the allusion to hope and feathers is from Emily Dickinson.
Kurapaty is a real mass grave where NKVD officers killed between 30,000 and 250,000 people between 1937 and 1941. All the doctrines and statutes are also genuine, as are the quotes from cases, although most have been edited.
And speaking of editing, I am very grateful to Dinah Forbes as well for her superlative literary services, not the least of which was connecting me to my excellent agent, Marilyn Biderman, one of the most heartening people I have ever met. I am also indebted to Dan Wells, my publisher, for his patience, editing, and counsel, as well as Vanessa Stauffer, John Sweet, Ingrid Paulson, Michaela Stephen, and the rest of the Biblioasis crew.
To all my friends: thank you for your encouragement, your support, and your distractions. I am deeply lucky to know you. And thanks to Brent Knazan as well, who let me attach his reading habits to a person wholly unlike him.
Finally, I must thank John Metcalf again and again — for his astute and inspired editing, for his help at pivotal moments, and for other kindnesses.