Soviet writer146;s harrowing WW II notes published

The notebooks of Soviet author Vasily Grossman, published in a new book8212;A Writer at War8212; by British historian Antony Beevor, offer a harrowing insight into life along the Nazis8217; eastern front with details which Soviet censors would never have allowed the public to see.

In his role as reporter for the Red Army8217;s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, the Ukrainian Jew was a key witness to the brutal battle of Stalingrad, civilian suffering under occupation and what happened at the concentration camps in Poland.

Beevor said many of Grossman8217;s facts were edited out of his printed articles, while his notes would have cost him his life had they been discovered.