Vasily Grossman was a Soviet writer and journalist renowned for his wartime reporting and literary works documenting the Eastern Front during World War II. His most notable novels include "The People Are Immortal," a wartime narrative serialized in newspapers, and "Stalingrad" (later retitled "For a Just Cause"), a sprawling epic based on his firsthand experiences during the siege. Grossman's journalism and fiction captured pivotal battles such as Moscow, Kursk, and Berlin, earning him recognition as a celebrated war correspondent.
Born into a Jewish family with socialist leanings, Grossman witnessed the devastation of war both personally and professionally. His mother perished during the Nazi occupation of Berdychiv, an event that profoundly influenced his writing. As a reporter for "Krasnaya Zvezda," he documented atrocities in Ukraine and Poland, including early accounts of the Holocaust. His harrowing article "The Hell of Treblinka" became key evidence at the Nuremberg Trials. Blending meticulous observation with moral urgency, Grossman's works exposed the brutality of war while affirming human resilience. He passed away in 1964, leaving behind unpublished manuscripts that later gained posthumous acclaim.