East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity

East West Street traces the parallel lives of three Jewish legal minds who shaped international human rights law in the twentieth century: Hersch Lauterpacht, Rafael Lemkin, and the author's grandfather Leon Buchholz. Through their stories, Sands reconstructs the development of two foundational concepts in international law: "crimes against humanity" and "genocide." The book follows these figures from their early years in Lviv (then Lemberg), through their experiences of Nazi persecution, to their roles in the Nuremberg trials and beyond. Sands combines his skills as an international lawyer with archival research to document how personal experiences influenced the creation of modern human rights law. The narrative moves between past and present as Sands investigates both the legal evolution of human rights concepts and his own family history in Eastern Europe. His research leads him through multiple countries and decades of history, uncovering connections between these legal pioneers who never met but whose paths repeatedly intersected. East West Street demonstrates how individual lives and systematic legal thinking converged at a pivotal moment to create the framework for international justice. The book raises questions about memory, identity, and the relationship between personal experience and legal theory.

Readers appreciate how Sands weaves together personal family history with the legal development of genocide and crimes against humanity concepts through the stories of lawyers Lauterpacht and Lemkin. Many note the book's thorough research and clear explanations of complex legal principles. Likes: - Connection between personal narratives and historical events - Detailed archival research and documentation - Accessible writing style for legal concepts - Photos and documents that support the narrative Dislikes: - Some find the multiple storylines hard to follow - Legal sections can be dense for non-lawyers - Several readers mention a slow start to the book Ratings: Goodreads: 4.4/5 (13,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.6/5 (1,800+ ratings) Common reader comment: "The personal stories make the legal history come alive." Multiple reviewers note they needed to take notes to track the various characters and timeline, but found the effort worthwhile for understanding how these crucial legal concepts emerged.

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🔹 Philippe Sands discovered that his grandfather Leon, Hersch Lauterpacht (who coined "crimes against humanity"), and Raphael Lemkin (who created the term "genocide") all had connections to the city of Lviv and studied at the same university there. 🔹 The author's research revealed that Nazi lawyer Hans Frank, who was responsible for implementing Hitler's Final Solution in Poland, had lived in the same building in Lviv where Sands' great-grandmother once resided. 🔹 Through meticulous investigation of archives and personal documents, Sands uncovered that his mother was born in Vienna in 1938, the exact day Hitler marched into Austria during the Anschluss. 🔹 The book interweaves four parallel storylines - those of Lauterpacht, Lemkin, Hans Frank, and Sands' own family - culminating in the Nuremberg Trials where the concepts of genocide and crimes against humanity were first prosecuted. 🔹 The term "genocide" was initially rejected by several nations during the Nuremberg Trials, as they feared it might be applied to their own treatment of indigenous peoples or colonial subjects.