Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (Russian: Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг IPA: [ɪˈlʲja grʲɪˈgorʲɪvɪtɕ ɪrʲɪnˈburk]), January 27 [O.S. January 15] 1891 (Kiev, Ukraine) – August 31, 1967 (Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Soviet-Jewish Russian writer and journalist whose 1954 novel gave name to the Khrushchev Thaw. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... Location Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   8537. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... In Soviet history, Kruschevs Thaw or Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period between the end of 1950s and the beginning of 1960s, when repressions and censorship reached a low point. ...

Life and work

Ilya Ehrenburg played many roles in his life, and was never fully understood by his contemporaries. He was a revolutionary as a teenager, a disenchanted poet in his youth, writing Catholic poems despite his Jewish background, a follower of Lenin on arrival in Paris, who then became an anti-Bolshevik and sensitive journalist. Not to be confused with antidisestablishmentarianism. ... „The poor poet“ A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

Later on he was hired to write Soviet propaganda, while occasionally defending his views with boldness against Stalin or government mouthpieces. Ehrenburg was a public figure during his time. He a was prominent member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314... The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC, Russian language: Еврейский антифашистский комитет, ЕАК) was formed in Kuibyshev in April 1942 with the official support of the Soviet authorities. ...

Ehrenburg is well known for his literary writing, especially his memoirs, which contain many portraits of interest to literary historians and biographers. Together with Vasily Grossman, Ehrenburg edited The Black Book that contains documentary accounts by Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union and Poland. Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (alternatively spelled Vassily, Vasiliy, Russian language: Василий Гроссман), December 12, 1905 – September 14, 1964, was a prominent Soviet-era writer and journalist. ... The Black Book, also known by its Russian language name, Chornaya Kniga (Чёрная Книга) was a result of the collaborative effort by the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and members of the American Jewish community to document the anti-Jewish crimes of the Holocaust and the participation of Jews in the fighting... This article is becoming very long. ...

He died in 1967 of prostate and bladder cancer, and was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. Grave of Anton Chekhov Novodevichy Cemetery (Новодевичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia, situated next to the World Heritage Site, the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the citys third most popular tourist site. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   8537. ...

Literary References

Apparently Alan Furst - considered by many America's premier writer of espionage fiction - found much of Ehrenburg's life and work so riveting that he modeled the central character in his 1991 novel "Dark Star" ISBN 0375759999 on the Russian writer. Addressing the degree to which fact and fiction sometimes overlap, Furst said, "(a particular character) was modeled on a number of people, although I've written about many people who did exist. Andre Szara in "Dark Star", for example, is based on the Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg" (Boston Globe interview, June 4, 2006). Six weeks later, in another interview, his comments were rather more qualified: "None of my characters are meant to be representations of real people. But in fact, in "Dark Star," the lead character is a Russified Polish Jew, a foreign correspondent for Pravda. So are we talking about Ilya Ehrenburg? Not really. But he's like that." Finally, we're left to decide if that's a yes or a no. Alan Furst is an American author of historical spy novels set just prior to and during the Second World War. ...

Controversies

One of the major controversies surrounding Ehrenburg is that during World War II he exhorted Soviet troops to kill the Germans that they encountered, as they advanced. Ehrenburg 'supposedly' authored a leaflet entitled "Kill," which was circulated among the soldiers on the Eastern Front: Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict... The Eastern Front was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ...

"Now we understand the Germans are not human. Now the word 'German' has become the most terrible curse. Let us not speak. Let us not be indignant. Let us kill. If you do not kill a German, a German will kill you. He will carry away your family, and torture them in his damned Germany. If you have killed one German, kill another." [1]

Some historians attribute Ehrenburg's message as a motivating factor for the violence against German civilians that took place as Soviet troops advanced through Nazi occupied territory toward the end of the war. However, it is important to note that the leaflet is directed against German soldiers ("убей немца" literally translates as "kill the German man") and thus cannot be seen as inspiring violence against civilians, especially women.

Other historians challenge Ehrenburg's authorship of the infamous "Kill" leaflet. Their arguments are based on the absence of known original Soviet copies of the leaflet from archives and an article by the alleged author in the Krasnaya Zvezda dated November 24, 1944 in which Ehrenburg explicitly denies his authorship of the "Kill" leaflet. [2] (German) A few historians even claim the "Kill" leaflet to be a fabrication of the Nazi Propagandaministerium, invented to strengthen the German resistance during the final months of the war. The Soviet military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda (Кра́сная звезда́, Red Star) was founded on January 1, 1924. ... The Propagandaministerium () (or State Ministry for Public enlightenment and Propaganda) was the Ministry of propaganda in Nazi Germany. ...

Another leaflet written by Ehrenburg cannot be any more clear as to its bad intentions towards German civilians however. In it he wrote, KILL! KILL! In the German race there is nothing but evil. Stamp out the fascist beast once and for all in its lair! Use force and break the racial pride of these German women. Take them as your lawful booty. Kill! As you storm onward, kill! You gallant soldiers of the Red army

External links

• The Black Book at jewishgen.org
• Tangled Loyalties, the 'definitive' Ehrenburg biography by Joshua Rubenstein at the book's home on the web
• Long biography, includes quote above
• Article in The Columbia Encyclopedia
• Brief page on The Thaw
• Marevna, "Homage to Friends from Montparnasse" (1962) Top left to right: Diego Rivera, Ilya Ehrenburg, Chaim Soutine, Amedeo Modigliani, his wife Jeanne Hébuterne, Max Jacob, gallery owner Leopold Zborowski[3][4]. Bottom left to right: Marevna, hers and Diego Rivera's daughter Marika, (Amedeo Modigliani), Moise Kisling.
• Read Ehrenburg's interview with The Paris Review