The Last of the Just

The debut novel of Schwarz-Bart, it won the Prix Goncourt, France's highest literary prize.

[1] The author was the son of a Polish Jewish family murdered by the Nazis.

Each Just Man is a Lamed Vav, according to legend, one of the thirty-six righteous souls whose existence justifies the purpose of humankind to God.

"[4] Critic Michael Dorris in 1991 described the novel as an enduring classic that reminds "how easily torn is the precious fabric of civilization, and how destructive are the consequences of dumb hatred-whether a society's henchmen are permitted to beat an Ernie Levy because he's Jewish, or because he's black or gay or Hispanic or homeless.

"[5] Gilbert Highet, a Book-of-the-Month Club judge described it as "the saddest novel I have ever read, almost as sad as history.