![]() ![]() Two of them, Hersch Lauterpacht, a professor of international law, and Raphael Lemkin, a prosecutor, had made their way to safety in England and the United States, respectively, and gave us two enduring legal concepts: “crimes against humanity” and “genocide.” The third man, Hans Frank, was Hitler’s personal lawyer and later became governor-general of the Polish territories that included Lemberg-Lviv-Lvov-Lwów. And in that same city, Sands discovers, the lives of three other people intersect. The pursuit of family history leads Sands to Leon’s birthplace, the city of Lemberg (as it was called in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire the name would change many times in the 20th century-Lviv, Lvov, Lwów, depending on what country was in control). ![]() ![]() Sands starts off in pursuit of the life story of his grandfather, Leon Buchholz, who had escaped the Holocaust (most of his family did not) and would eventually, after the war, settle in Paris. Sands pulls this off because of his curiosity, his skill, and his material-and because this is not just one book but several. ![]() East West Street: On the Origins of “Genocide” and “Crimes Against Humanity,” by Philippe Sands, is a rare and unusual event: a book about international law that makes you want to keep reading. ![]()
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