Historian Jan Tomasz Gross is the narrator of this history of the Jedwabne massacre. Though Gross was not a survivor and has no connection to this specific community, he is of Polish descent. As a Pole he, therefore, personally contends with Poland’s role in the Holocaust as well as its history of victimization by the Nazis. Frequently, Gross injects his own voice into the narrative, usually to explain evidence or to pose a series of questions to prod the reader into thinking differently about the Holocaust.

Gross was born in Warsaw but left his homeland in 1969, according to The Guardian, after political dissidents, particularly Jews, became targets of the government. Gross has a reputation as a voice that speaks for underrepresented groups. His work as a historian contends with Poland’s aversion to examining its history, as well as the nation’s tendency to pursue a singular historical narrative. Gross is Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University, where he teaches about Soviet politics, Eastern European politics and society, comparative politics, the Holocaust, and totalitarian and authoritarian regimes.