Shepsl Rotholc was a famous champion Jewish boxer in Poland in the 1930s. In 1941, two years after the Germans invaded, he became a policeman in the Warsaw Ghetto, helping to maintain order and enforce Nazi orders. Was Rotholc guilty of collaborating with the Nazis? Did he have any other choice? Should he be considered a hero for trying to save his family? These were the kinds of questions considered by a special Jewish honor court that tried Rotholc in 1946 for aiding the Nazis.
In coming to America, the people of the book also became the people of documents. In letters, contracts, laws and legislation, photographs, temple newsletters, and even advertisements for rye bread, the Jews' triumphs and travails were all recorded, reflected upon, and discussed.