The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ANY BOOK OF BREADTH AND AMBITION INVOLVES A DEGREE OF collaboration, and this one is no exception. For every word that makes it onto the page, dozens have been unearthed from archives, retrieved from libraries, translated, or transcribed. Hence, a number of debts must humbly be acknowledged.

First, this project required a considerable degree of foreign-language research assistance, sometimes in parts to which the shrinking author’s advance will scarcely stretch. Consequently, help was ably tendered by Evgeny Panin in Russia, Oleg Medvedevsky in Belarus, Neringa Pangonyte in Lithuania, Dr. Jakub Tyszkiewicz in Poland, Axel von Wittenberg and Philipp Rauh in Germany, and Andreea Minca and Andreea-Lavinia Mocanu in Romania. In addition, James Simpson, Saskia Smellie, Sebastian Palfi, Vicky Davis, and Owen Emmerson did sterling work in the United Kingdom.

Second, thanks must also be extended to colleagues and friends who gave advice, answered questions, read chapters, and otherwise gave their time and knowledge, including Jaroslaw Garlinski, Mel Huang, Dr. Alex Drecoll, Professor Edward Ericson, Bill Russ, Nauris Larmanis, Nigel Jones, Heather McCallum, Dr. Martin Folly, Professor Richard Overy, Dr. David Kirby, and, as ever, Professor Norman Davies.

Having worked in many archives, libraries, and academic institutions, I would like to single out two—where much of this book was researched and written—for special praise: the German Historical Institute in London and the library of the University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Whereas other institutions put up obstacles and present an uncaring face to their readers, these two make the sometimes onerous task of researching and writing a genuine pleasure.

I would also like to thank those of the surviving community of Kresowcy and Sybiracy—the Poles deported to Siberia and elsewhere by the Soviet Union in 1940 and 1941—whom I met in researching this book. It was a truly humbling experience to hear their stories of unimaginable hardship, stories that, sadly, rarely receive an airing in “the West.” Although this book is not strictly about their enforced exile, I hope that I have nonetheless done them justice in, at least in part, bringing their plight to a wider audience. Thanks are also due to the Polish Social and Cultural Centre (POSK) in West London for arranging the meetings.

All of this would be for naught, of course, were it not for the commitment, passion, and persuasion of my agents, Peter Robinson in the United Kingdom and Jill Grinberg in the United States, and the vision of my respective commissioning editors: Stuart Williams at Bodley Head in London and the brilliant Lara Heimert at Basic Books in New York. Roger Labrie did an excellent job of tidying up the US manuscript. An honorable mention must also be made for my inestimable editor in London, Jörg Hensgen, who has had the dubious honor of working on all of my previous books and brought his valuable insights and expertise to this one as well. Jen Kelland exercised her considerable talents in honing the US edition.

Lastly, convention dictates that an author should close with a saccharine paean to his or her family. Mine is as simple as it is heartfelt. To my wife, Melissa and to our children, Oscar and Amelia, I offer my profound thanks; thank you for your perennial enthusiasm for the book that has taken shape in your midst, and thank you for the patience, the love, and the understanding that you have shown to its occasionally ill-tempered author. “This time next year!”

Morzine, April 2014