Critical Praise

“THREE MINUTES IN POLAND begins as the story of an old family film rediscovered and veers into an important tale of the horrors of life and death in Polish shtetls during World War II. It is intensely moving and brilliantly researched, and it reads like a thriller.” 

—Elie Wiesel, author of NIGHT

“A masterpiece. With scrupulous intelligence and deep compassion, Glenn Kurtz tells this stupendous, terrifying and ultimately consoling story in a way that fully honors the material. The reader grieves for what was lost, but is also alert to the miracle that anything was saved at all. Kurtz has done us all a great service in rescuing this tale from oblivion. THREE MINUTES IN POLAND is destined to be a classic.” 

—Teju Cole, author of OPEN CITY

“With nothing more to go on than three scant minutes in a family film, Glenn Kurtz has meticulously pieced together a luminous, searing story of a place and its people. I read this beautiful book wishing for nothing less than to turn back the clock and change the course of history. Kurtz is a restrained and elegant writer, and THREE MINUTES IN POLAND is not only a magnificent literary achievement, but a human one.” 

—Dani Shapiro, author of DEVOTION

“Glenn Kurtz’s beautifully written book is many things at once: a family memoir, a page-turning mystery, a penetrating look at one of the darkest chapters in human history. Above all, it’s a powerful testament to the singular worth of every life. That’s the passion that inspired Kurtz through his years of research, and I can’t think of a worthier one.” 

—Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of 36 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

“Glenn Kurtz leads the reader on an inspiring journey through the forgotten past in this meticulous work of historical reconstruction. I was amazed by the patient forensic skill with which he followed the trail of a handful of images into a vibrant array of voices and visual memories. By helping his many interview subjects remember details of a world they themselves didn’t know they still carried inside, Kurtz discovers life where there had seemed only to be loss.”

—George Prochnik, author of THE IMPOSSIBLE EXILE