Discussion Papers Series
Patrick Desbois is a Catholic priest and President of the association Yahad - In Unum. He also serves as Director of the Episcopal Committee for Catholic-Judeo Relations, under the auspices of the French Conference of Bishops. The grandson of a WWII French prisoner held in the Rawa Ruska Nazi prison camp on the Poland-Ukraine border, Father Desbois began in 2004 to investigate the story of the Jewish, Roma and other victims murdered in Eastern Europe during WWII by the Nazi mobile killing units, the Einsatzgruppen, and their allies.
Father Desbois has devoted his life to researching the Holocaust, fighting anti-Semitism, and furthering relations between Catholics and Jews. The organization he co-founded in 2004, Yahad - In Unum, sends research teams to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Poland to interview the aging local residents who witnessed the mass murders of their neighbors. In 2008, he published the book “The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews”. The Jewish Book Council awarded the book the 2008 National Jewish Book Award. Father Desbois has received recognition around the world for his work with Yahad - In Unum.