"Gelfand’s “German Diary 1945–1946” is a remarkable book in every sense. It is the unique eyewitness account of the liberation of Poland and East Germany by the Red Army. The only facts that Soviet soldiers were not allowed for security's sake to keep a diary and that the Ukrainian lieutenant Gelfand had the courage to violate this prohibition is a very good reason to be thankful to the author. Although imperfect in certain respects, this diary surely refutes the assertion of numerous historical revisionists trying to represent the great victory of mankind over Hitler as a barbarian aggression of Stalin's Henchmen against Western civilisation."