What You Did Not Tell: A Father's Past and a Journey Home

by Mark Mazower

A warm, insightful memoir by an acclaimed historian that explores the struggles of twentieth-century Europe through the lives and hopes of a single family--his own

Following his relatives' remarkable stories, Mark Mazower recounts the sacrifices and silences that marked a generation and their descendants. With a rich array of letters, photographs, interviews, and archives, he creates a moving portrait of a family that fate drove into the siege of Stalingrad, the Vilna ghetto, occupied Paris, and even the ranks of the Wehrmacht. His British father was the lucky one, the son of Russian Jewish emigrants who settled in London after escaping civil war and revolution. Max, the grandfather, had started out as a member of the socialist Bund organization and manned the barricades against tsarist troops, but never spoke of it. His wife, Frouma, came from a family ravaged by the Great Terror yet somehow making their way in Soviet society.

In the centenary of the Russian Revolution, What You Did Not Tell recalls a brand of socialism erased from memory: humanistic, impassioned, and broad-ranging in its sympathies. But it also examines the unexpected happiness that may await history's losers, the power of friendship, and the love of place that allowed Max and Frouma's son to call England home.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Russia, Memoir, Biography, Biography Memoir, British Literature

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Mark Mazower is a historian and writer, specializing in modern Greece, twentieth-century Europe, and international history. His books include Salonica City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430–1950, winner of the Duff Cooper Prize; Hitler’s Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe, winner of the 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History; and Governing the World: The History of an Idea. He is currently the Ira D. Wallach Professor of History at Columbia University, and his articles and reviews on history and current affairs appear regularly in the Financial Times, the Guardian, London Review of Books, The Nation, and New Republic.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a moving, and warm, memoir, telling the story of the author’s father, primarily, as well as his wider family. Although life for Mark Mazower was safely contained within the leafy suburb of Highgate, where he grew up, he recalled his father speaking fluent Russian on the phone. He was aware of this other life his family had formerly inhabited. As his father grew older, he attempted to record his memories and, sadly, after his father died, he then began to explore his family heritage.

Mark Mazower’s family were Russian Jews, who were involved in all of the major upheavals of that country in the early 1900’s. His grandfather, Max, was a revolutionary agitator in Tsarish Russia, who spent his early life on the radar of the Okhrana and was arrested and imprisoned. He never returned to Russia after 1923, finding sanctuary in England, but – although he kept much of his former life secret – he was still in touch with much of the Russian émigré community in London.

This is a tale of unravelling family secrets; of revolution and repression, exile and other such momentous events. However, it is also about the early years of the typewriter business, of creating a new, safe life, where Mark’s family created a niche for themselves in their beloved Highgate and made new memories. Still, we are always aware of what is going on in Europe, especially for the Jewish community during the Second World War and the effects of what happened to other members of the family on the Mazower’s in London. A moving and well told story, which I found engrossing and well written.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a really gripping combination of family memoir and a sweeping account of the turbulent history of left-wing Russian Jewry and the Bund, from the beginnings of the 20th century in Russia to the safe harbour of London and up to the present day. It’s a fascinating story. Through the lives and struggles of one family, his own, Mark Mazower explores the destiny of so many other individuals and families caught up in cataclysmic events. When he started his research, he had no idea about what he would discover. Silence, evasions, secrets – from pre-Revolutionary Russia to Stalingrad, the Vilna Ghetto to occupied Paris, from Franco’s Spain to the ranks of the Wehrmacht, all are part of the family’s history. Using his father’s diaries and conversations as his starting point, Mazower uncovers his family’s past and the trail takes him in many unexpected directions. An absorbing and compelling read.

[Athan Tolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot on the heels of Philippe Sands’ “East West Street” (which was for many the best book of 2016) historian Mark Mazower literally follows up with his own exploration of his paternal grandparents’ roots in the Pale region of Tsarist Russia and treks with them from the part of the world we now call Latvia / Belarus / Ukraine all the way to London.

The background story here is the birth of Socialism in Tsarist Russia, and it’s told from the angle of the author’s grandfather, Max Mazower, an important participant in that movement. I have to confess that I’d heard of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, but had no idea that the original Socialist organization had been the Jewish Bund. It’s a totally fascinating story and it’s told by one of the best living historians, who has left no stone unturned to tell it as best he can.

From the grandparents we then move on to the author’s father and his place in his adopted home of England. You cannot help drawing the parallels between the London he describes, what with the distinctions between the Jewish intelligentsia vs. the mere refugees, and the author’s beloved subject of Salonica. I now have a feeling I need to read that amazing book again.

Needless to say, you don’t read this for the history. You read it as a wonderful tale, that happens to all be true. It’s a beautiful story, amazingly told.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, well-written and researched book by a historian, raised and educated in Britain, teaching in the US, raised by parents who were part of the Russian diaspora. Interesting to see how much family history he was able to uncover, in addition to the stories he'd been told growing up.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells of an interesting aspect of Russian-Jewish history that thankfully both paternal grandparents managed to escape with their lives to the relative safety of England. Less interesting for the general reader when focusing on the more personal aspects of his ancestor's lives - I assume this part appeals more to immediate family members.

[Nasus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Amazing Russian history as well as family history.

[Stephen Goldenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could relate strongly to Mark Mazower’s family memoir because I grew up very near him in North London and my grandparents were also Russian immigrants. However, my grandparents didn’t share the very active political background of his. And, it’s that history of the Jewish socialist Bund, in which his grandfather was a very prominent figure, that is one of the most fascinating parts of this book. In particular, it is the rivalries and the falling out between the Bundists and the Bolsheviks.
The other fascinating aspect for me was the process of adapting to life in England.

[Becky Loader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just read a book on Siberia during the time of the Tsars, I wasn't ready for reading about the uprising of the Bund in Russia.

[Igrowastreesgrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

will update with review later...

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn't get in to this one. Felt like reading an endless list of historic details versus a story.

[Alan Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about a man's search for his father and his grandfather's history. Mark Mazower's grandfather was a Bundist and Leftist in the dying days of Tsarist Russia. He eventually moves to England during WW 1 where he becomes a member of the bourgeois. Family members of his grandfather and grandmother are scattered all over Europe. Some in Russia, Germany and France.
Some are murdered by the Nazis, other freeze to death in the siege of Leningrad. Many are trapped behind the Iron Curtain. How were all of their fates so different? Mr Mazower is really asking some fundamental questions that I have often pondered. How did I end up here in safety and security in America or in England in Mazower's case? Someone a long time ago made a wrenching decision to leave all they knew and hope for a better life elsewhere. It is mainly luck, and I and Mr. Mazower are the beneficiaries of that luck. One of my favorite quotes is, "If I have seen farther, it is only because I am standing on the shoulders of giants." He also asks the existential question of how well do we really know our parents. We all know that our parents lives before us are a blank slate, and Mr. Mazower tries to fill the slate. After his grandfather emigrates to England, he lives for all intents and purposes an anonymous life. That is the story, but that life is still a remarkable thing.
Nothing much happens in this very good book, but it is worth a read.

[Riet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een prachtige combinatie van een familiegeschiedenis en een gescheedenis van de afgelopen eeuw. de grootouders van de schrijver waren Joods-Russische emigres, die uiteindelijk in Londen belandden. Hun familie bleef deels in post-revolutionair Rusland en deels in o.a. Frankrijk. Er zijn half-broersen -zusters met ook weer hun eigen geschiedenis. De vader van de schrijver is de meest stabiele figuur in het verhaal. Er is de geschiedenis van de Joodse Bund, van de Russische revolutie, de burgeroorlog, de opkomst van de Nazi's etc. Mooi en met veel liefde geschreven.

[Vicent Flor Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pot escriure un historiador la pròpia història familiar? Per què no? Mark Mazower ho fa, i ho fa molt bé, en "Lo que no me contaste". Max Mazower, el iaio, fou un militant destacat de l'organització socialista jueva Bund que s'enfrontà al tzarisme i que escapà del bolxevisme. La família de la iaia Froume fou afectada per la Gran Purga Estalinista. Tots dos s'establiren al Regne Unit, on ja va nàixer son pare i ell. Però, com a emigrats, també eren de cultura russa.

A partir d'un cas familiar fa un fresc de l'Europa del segle XX. I, com en tota família, en aquest cas antifeixista, sempre hi ha un bé negre, André Krylienko, un feixista que s'establí en l'Espanya franquista.

És un llibre interessant.

#elsmeusllibres

[Christopher Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blends family memoir with history. As the son of a Polish survivor of WWII, I was quite affected by Mazower's tale about his paternal grandfather, who was a Russian Jew and a member of the Bund, a socialist organization. The book managed to be both personal and historical, and it conveyed a poignant sense of the passing of time and cultural change.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than 3 stars... but I felt this memoir was best in the beginning when it traced the author’s grandfather in Russia and then London as part of one on the leftist activist groups. The story of the author’s father was less compelling. The author is a very well known historian teaching at Columbia au. Google his lectures and an interview about this book.

[b · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, although it's a pity and a weakness of the book that he so clearly prioritized the stories of the men in his family, leaving the women as sideshows.

[Niels Hoogerheijde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooie familiegeschiedenis, waarbij de focus ligt op Mark Mazowers Russisch-Joodse grootouders en vader. Vooral de eerste jaren uit het leven van grootvader Max en zijn echtgenote Frouma bieden een fascinerende inkijk in het Russische keizerrijk aan het einde van de negentiende eeuw, meer specifiek het zogenaamde paalgebied: het westelijke deel van het rijk met een omvangrijke Joodse bevolking. Met verve beschrijft Mazower de grote politieke onrust die deze periode kenmerkte, met allerlei politieke groeperingen die elkaar enerzijds vonden in hun gezamenlijke verzet tegen het tsaristische bewind en elkaar anderzijds de tent uit vochten.

Met name interessant is Mazowers beschrijving van de opkomst en ondergang van de Bund, een seculier Joods-socialistische organisatie die op het hoogtepunt tienduizenden leden telde en invloedrijker was dan de bolsjewieken van Lenin, en waarvan Mazowers grootvader Max één van de grondleggers was. Leden van de Bund (zogeheten Bundisten) waarschuwden al vroeg voor de gevaarlijke autoritaire neigingen van het bolsjewisme en de leninistische filosofie van een “voorhoedepartij.” In plaats daarvan legden Bundisten de nadruk op zelforganisatie van Joodse arbeiders en de strijd voor concrete sociaal-economische verbetering, zoals hogere lonen. Daarnaast was de Bund fel tegenstander van het zionisme, dat in feite beschouwd werd als een soort defaitistisch escapisme. Volgens de Bund was het beter om binnen al bestaande samenlevingen een plek te creëren voor de Joodse cultuur. De Bund was daarbij zeker niet naïef en schrok niet terug voor gewapende zelfverdediging tegen pogroms. Helaas dolf de Bund het onderspit in de factiestrijd binnen de Russische socialistische beweging en werden veel Bundisten later vervolgd en vermoord door Lenins bolsjewieken (al waren er ook een aantal prominente Bundisten die de overstap naar Lenins zijde waagden, maar met hen liep het veelal niet goed af).

Nog enkele opvallende zaken in dit boek:

- Het gemak waarmee activisten, intellectuelen en vakbondsmensen vóór de Tweede Wereldoorlog op en neer pendelden tussen Oost- en West-Europa, of het nu was om een conferentie bij te wonen of om tijdelijk de autoriteiten te ontvluchten. Ik heb het idee dat dit vrije verkeer ook na afloop van de Koude Oorlog nooit meer zo intensief is geweest als Mazower het beschrijft.
- De korte lijntjes in het socialistische milieu begin vorige eeuw: Mazowers familieleden waren over het algemeen slechts 1 handdruk verwijderd van Walter Benjamin, Emma Goldman, Ben Goerion, Lenin en Stalin.

Mazower beschrijft dit alles aan de hand van de levens van zijn familieleden, waardoor grote historische gebeurtenissen (de bolsjewieken krijgen de overhand in de Russische revolutie) opeens veel meer inkleuring krijgen en je je de dilemma’s waarmee mensen in dergelijke momenten geconfronteerd zagen veel beter kunt indenken.

4,25/5, enkel geen 5/5 vanwege het abrupte einde, het soms wat te lukraak volgen van losse historische of persoonlijke sporen en enkele losse eindjes (Hoe komt de halfzus van Mazowers vader precies om het leven? Wie is Mazowers moeder? Hoe vervolgt oma Frouma haar leven na het overlijden van opa Max?).

[Oscar Lozano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Mazower nos cuenta la historia de su familia al mismo tiempo que nos imbuye en los turbulentos años finales del siglo XIX y primeros del siglo XX en el imperio ruso.
Así comienza a biografiar la vida de su abuelo, activista judío polaco y miembro activo del primer gran partido socialista de Rusia, la Unión General de Trabajadores Judíos para Lituania, Polonia y Rusia más conocido como Bund. Este partido terminaría fundando el Partido Socialdemócrata de Rusia. De esta manera, y con Max (el abuelo) como hilo conductor, se nos van desvelando tanto los pormenores de la familia Mazower y sus contactos y amistades como la Historia de Rusia, y por añadidura la de Europa, desde finales del siglo XIX y todo el siglo XX.
Así, a través de Max conoceremos a importantes personajes de la Rusia prerrevolucionaria y los primeros tiempos después del triunfo de la Revolución de 1917 y el bolchevismo con Lenin a la cabeza. Esto nos meterá de lleno en el periodo de la Gran Purga Stalinista y el terror que imperó en los rusos ante cualquier hecho que los calificara de poco rusos o anticomunistas.
Con ello, y como si fuera una novela en vez de un ensayo histórico autobiográfico, nos dejamos sumergir en una época muy convulsa que también proporciona la información necesaria para comprender como ciertos políticos llegaron a ostentar sus cargos.
En el plano más personal del gran protagonista, Max, observamos como el paso del tiempo apaga los fuegos reivindicativos de la juventud, y aunque no hace que se pierdan los ideales sin embargo si modera la aptitud y las maneras de ayudar. Aunque en su caso se convirtió en una persona más reservada y poco dada a mostrar sus sentimientos hacía su familia. Sin embargo encontramos su contrapunto en su esposa Frouma que era más familiar y cariñosa. Para al final inculcar unos valores basados en el esfuerzo, el trabajo y el no intentar destacar en su hijo, donde lo importante no era ser famoso si no tener las convicciones bien formadas.
El resumen que se puede hacer de esta obra es que es una biografía que nos enseña la historia de Rusia durante la dictadura comunista, y también de la Europa socialista a través de una familia judeo rusa socialista. Muy recomendable para los amantes de esta época de la Historia.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and deeply personal family memoir by Mazower. For anyone interested in revolutionary and wartime Europe, this is a text that, through Mazower's family, helps draw a picture of the chaos, contradictions and politics of that time. Mazower uses his family history to zigzag between the Bund, Bolsheviks, ultra-leftists, labourites, White Russians, fascists and more. With this, he gives just one insight into the mindset and lives of his family of revolutionary Russian Jewish emigres and their associates, and answers questions such as: why a man who was a leading member of a revolutionary workers' organisation may then become a businessman and property developer, without renouncing (nor speaking about) his previous politics; why the half-Jewish son of revolutionary socialists may become a delusional anti-semitic fascist; and why family life was so important to so many individuals, even during a time when minimising communications could have been the easiest option.

What Mazower has managed to uncover and report within these pages is an incredibly impressive feat, especially given the silence and secretism of his grandfather Max (but perhaps also, ironically, a task that was assisted by the state surveillance of many revolutionary members / associates of the Mazower family throughout the 20th Century). I greatly appreciate the effort and openness that Mark Mazower has put into this book, and would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book by a first-rate historian who, here, turns his critical eye to a topic close to home: the history of his own family, which---as he peels away the layers---is itself a microcosm of the history of an era: a time of political turbulence and transformation woven into the story of a family. He tries to understand his own grandfather, Max, whose dignified silence and reserve concealed a complicated past in the Russia he had left behind when he emigrated to England. There's a great deal more which I'll leave to the reader.

It's a wonderful book, at least for those who like to read history: a little dry for some, I'm sure, but quite to my liking, particularly since I have such enormous respect for Mazower's more scholarly writings.

[Ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid narrative, but told in a way to be deliberately obscuring to make you read on until the end.
A fascinating history, but written from a very bias view - purhaps fitting to the nature of the text as an almost family memoir. I would recomend for anyone interested in modern Russian history, but not wanting to get a complex or cohesive emersion.

Also, on a personal preference level, the use of the word "gotten" confused me throughout the book, as the author uses it interchangeably with where the word "has" or "had" should have been present. A slight peve, but it should not take away from the overarching merit of the work.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating memoir of the author's family, covering his grandfather's involvement in the activities leading up to the Russian Revolution, the fates of the family members on both sides of the family, the effect of the unspoken past on the author's father as he was growing up. For me it was the Russian sections which were the most gripping, but the whole story of life, death and exile, and the intertwining of the lives of such different characters (some of whom played significant roles in the broader sweep of history), is really moving and beautifully written.

[Josep Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Habiendo leído hace ya años The Balkans, Inside Hitler’s Greece, Dark Continent, Hitler’s Empire y Salonica, todos ellos a mi parecer excelentemente escritos, esperaba algo más de estas memorias familiares, que no dejan de ser la excusa para describir sucesos y personajes relacionados con la Revolución Rusa y las comunidades judías de Europa oriental. No queda bien resuelta, creo, la combinación entre “history” y “stories”.

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Mazower is Professor of History at Columbia University. This fascinating book looks at Mazower’s family history starting with his grandfather, Max, a Jew born in the Russian Empire to piece together who they were and what drove them overseas. However while Mazower does his best to fill in the blanks, there is a lot of supposition here, so while you learn a lot about the politics, his family themselves remain to an extent unknowable.

[Eduardo Higueras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Mazower estira el hilo de sus vivencias personales para explorar, a través de su historia familiar, los conflictos que a lo largo de la primera mitad del siglo XX atraviesa buena parte de Europa. Es una historia de compromiso social, violencia, desarraigo y arraigo. Me impresiona la capacidad del autor para problematizar en torno a un relato tan personal.

[AndreasRaptis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Η μικροιστορία τριών γενεών Μαζάουερ κεντημένη πάνω στον καμβά της Ιστορίας - φοβερή μεθοδολογία, σπαταλος ουμανισμος, όλα όσα περιμενεις απο εναν γκραν μετρ της επιστήμης. 400 σελίδες γενεαλογικής εντομολογίας είναι λίγες και πολλες ταυτόχρονα (βιβλίο για πολυ μερακλήδες)

[Kyriaki K.K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Λίγο παραγκωνισμένο το γυναικείο στοιχείο...

[Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary and heartbreaking memoir by one of the best historians working today.

[Steve Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific memoir and family history. And in some way a love letter to London.

[Yannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

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