Józef Kermisz (1907–2005) – twórca badań nad Szoa

2014 ◽  
pp. 304-316
Author(s):  
David Silberklang
Keyword(s):  
Historical Research ◽  
Research Infrastructure ◽  
Underground Press ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Warsaw Ghetto ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Yad Vashem

 Józef Kermisz (1907–2005) was a historian and an archivist who helped lay the foundations for Shoah research in Poland and Israel. In 1944 joined the Central Jewish Historical Commission where became the chief archivist. Since then his life has been devoted to retrieving wartime archival material. As archive director (in the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland and at Yad Vashem in Israel) he sought to develop an archive both for future historical research and for trials of suspected war criminal. He played a major role in discovering and preserving important documentation on the Shoah in Poland. Among his major professional achievements were preparing documentation for the prosecution in the Eichmann trial, and publishing Czerniakow’s diary and the full edition of the underground press of the Warsaw ghetto. He was one of the world’s leading experts on the Ringelblum Archive and other hidden Jewish documentation from the Holocaust. Kermisz left behind a legacy of a vast research infrastructure that he created and that will occupy scholars for generations.

Hersz Wasser. Sekretarz Archiwum

2014 ◽  
pp. 297-303
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Person
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Underground Press ◽  
Warsaw Ghetto ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Face ◽  
Post War ◽  
The One

This article discusses the life of Hersch Wasser (1910–1980), secretary of the “Oneg Shabbat” and the closest collaborator of Emmanuel Ringelblum. Wasser, an economist from Łódź, who was a key personality in the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. He was the one who coordinated its activities and recorded both its collaborators and incoming documents. He was one of the creators of the press department of the “Oneg Shabbat”, which provided information on the Holocaust to the Polish and Jewish underground press. As a secretary of the Central Refugee Commission, he interviewed refugees arriving in the ghetto and supplied the Archive with information on the persecution of Jews outside Warsaw. After the end of the war, Wasser played a key role in unearthing the first part of the Underground Archive in September 1946 and in preparing their first catalogue. Simultaneously, between April and September 1947, Wasser took out about 140 documents from the collection and together with other documents relating to the Holocaust (altogether 244) sent them to YIVO in New York, seeing it as a way of safekeeping them in the face of a dif????icult situation in post-war Poland. He emigrated to Israel in 1950.

The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust – Poland, Yad-Vashem, Jerusalem 2005

2005 ◽  
pp. 318-319
Author(s):  
Marta Janczewska
Keyword(s):  
The Holocaust ◽  
Yad Vashem

Stosunki polsko-żydowskie podczas drugiej wojny światowej – to temat w szczególny sposób złożony i obciążony emocjami. Nawet jednak w najbardziej zażartej dyskusji dotyczącej tej problematyki strony milkną, gdy przywołane zostaną sylwetki Sprawiedliwych wśród Narodów Świata. Od roku 1963, kiedy Instytut Yad Vashem rozpoczął przyznawanie tytułu Sprawiedliwego wśród Narodów Świata, odznaczenie to otrzymało ponad 20 000 osób. Ponad 5300 spośród nich (dane na koniec 2000 roku) to Polacy. Po tomach prezentujących Sprawiedliwych z Holandii i Francji, staraniem Instytutu Yad Vashem do rąk badaczy i szerokiego kręgu czytelników trafia właśnie dwutomowa encyklopedia poświęcona Polakom uhonorowanym tym zaszczytnym tytułem.Książka w porządku alfabetycznym prezentuje kolejnych Sprawiedliwych, opatrując każde nazwisko (lub kilka nazwisk, w zależności od liczby osób zaangażowanych w konkretny przypadek) rodzajem noty biograficznej. Noty mają charakter narracyjny i ogniskują się na historii ratowania. W krótkich z konieczności zapisach autorzy starali się jak najpełniej ukazać sylwetkę Sprawiedliwego, jego status ekonomiczny, wykształcenie, poglądy i związane z nimi motywacje ratowania, oraz możliwie wiernie przedstawić historię pomocy, wskazać jej przebieg i okoliczności. Wszystkie hasła osobowe Encyklopedii... powstały jedynie w oparciu o akta, jakie każdy Sprawiedliwy posiada w Archiwum Instytutu Yad Vashem. Wiele not opatrzonych jest zdjęciem bohatera. Rozbudowany wstęp o charakterze historyczno-socjologicznym pióra profesora Israela Gutmana, mapa oraz słownik podstawowych pojęć przybliżają nawet zupełnie niezorientowanemu w temacie czytelnikowi złożoność stosunków polsko-żydowskich przed drugą wojną światową oraz przedstawiają mu realia okupowanej Polski, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem reakcji Polaków na Holokaust. Autorzy Encyklopedii... zdecydowali się na prezentację sylwetek Sprawiedliwych, którzy zostali uhonorowani do końca 1999 roku. Jako że Instytut Yad Vashem kontynuuje nadawanie tytułu, spodziewany jest w przyszłości suplement, prezentujący kolejne postaci.

Le rôle de l’armée juive dans la libération de Juifs en France 1942 - 1945

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 00007
Author(s):  
B Dewi Puspitaningrum ◽  
Airin Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
World War ◽  
French Army ◽  
German Occupation ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The Status ◽  
Jews In France ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Second World

<p class="Keyword">Nazi Germany used Endlösung to persecute Jews during the Second World War, leading them to the Holocaust, known as “death”. During the German occupation in France, the status of the Jews was applied. Polonski reacted to the situation by establishing a Zionist resistance, Jewish Army, in January 1942. Their first visions were to create a state of Israel and save the Jews as much as they could. Although the members of the group are not numerous, they represented Israel and played an important role in the rescue of the Jews in France, also in Europe. Using descriptive methods and three aspects of historical research, this article shows that the Jewish Army has played an important role in safeguarding Jewish children, smuggling smugglers, physical education and the safeguarding of Jews in other countries. In order to realize their visions, collaborations with other Jewish resistances and the French army itself were often created. With the feeling of belonging to France, they finally extended their vision to the liberation of France in 1945 by joining the French Forces of the Interior and allied troops.</p>

Moshe Safdie at Yad Vashem: Architecture, Politics, Identity

Pólemos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Paolo Coen
Keyword(s):  
Initial Phase ◽  
The State ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
History Museum ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
International Reputation ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Yad Vashem

Abstract This article revolves in essence around the contributions made by the architect Moshe Safdie to the Yad Vashem memorial and museum in Jerusalem. Both probably need at least a brief introduction, if for no other reason than the nature of the present publication, which has a somewhat different scope than the type of art-historical or architectural-historical journals to which reflections of this kind are usually consigned. The first part draws a profile of Safdie, who enjoys a well-established international reputation, even if he has not yet been fully acknowledged in Italy. In order to better understand who he is, we shall focus on the initial phase of his career, up to 1967, and his multiple ties to Israel. The range of projects discussed includes the Habitat 67 complex in Montreal and a significant number of works devised for various contexts within the Jewish state. The second part focuses on the memorial and museum complex in Jerusalem that is usually referred to as Yad Vashem. We will trace Yad Vashem from its conception, to its developments between the 1950s and 1970s, up until the interventions of Safdie himself. Safdie has in fact been deeply and extensively involved with Yad Vashem. It is exactly to this architect that a good share of the current appearance of this important institute is due. Through the analysis of three specific contributions – the Children’s Memorial, the Cattle Car Memorial and the Holocaust History Museum – and a consideration of the broader context, this article shows that Yad Vashem is today, also and especially thanks to Safdie, a key element in the formation of the identity of the state of Israel from 1967 up until our present time.

scholarly journals Heroic Collective Action: A People's Blessing?

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Bernauer, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Religious Toleration ◽  
Hungarian Revolution ◽  
Careful Scrutiny ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Yad Vashem

Is the tendency to think of heroism as the activity of an individual rather than of a collective merely a matter of prejudice?  Perhaps the European revolutions of 1989 and the Arab Spring of 2011 will foster more careful scrutiny of that assumption.  Are the heroic figures so often featured in journalistic as well as historical accounts only individuals who are witnesses to a communal transformation and empowerment?  Will a greater appreciation for heroic collective action promote a more nuanced perspective on the development of Jewish-Christian relations?  The author proposes a shift of focus to communal heroism through an examination of four examples: the Yad Vashem project of recognizing the "Righteous among the Nations"; the Hungarian Revolution; the historical development of religious toleration; and, finally, the place that the Holocaust has taken on in contemporary reflection.

scholarly journals The Language of Cruelty of the Holocaust on the Example of “The Ringelblum Archive. Annihilation – Day by Day”

2019 ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Izabela Olszewska
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Warsaw Ghetto ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Polish Jews ◽  
Day By Day

The Language of Cruelty of the Holocaust on the Example of The Ringelblum Archive. Annihilation – Day by DayThe Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is one of the most significant testimonies of the annihilation of Polish Jews to be preserved in social life documents, mainly written reports and photographs. The founder of the Archive, Emanuel Ringelblum, described the purpose of the collected materials as follows: “We wanted the events in every town, the experiences of every Jew – and every Jew during this war is a world unto himself – to be conveyed in the simplest, most faithful manner. Every redundant word, every literary addition or embellishment, stood out, causing a sense of dissonance and distaste. The life of Jews during this war is so tragic that not a single extra word is needed”. The aim of the paper is a linguistic analysis of the drastic language of the Holocaust on the basis of The Ringelblum Archive: Annihilation - Day by Day. Język okrucieństwa Holokaustu na przykładzie Archiwum Ringelbluma. Dzień po dniu ZagładyPodziemne Archiwum Getta Warszawskiego jest jednym z najważniejszych świadectw zagłady polskich Żydów zachowanych w dokumentach życia społecznego, głównie w reportażach i fotografiach. Założyciel Archiwum, Emanuel Ringelblum, następująco opisał cel zebranych materiałów: „Chcieliśmy, aby wydarzenia w każdym mieście, doświadczenia każdego Żyda – a każdy Żyd w czasie tej wojny jest światem dla siebie – były przekazywane w najprostszy, najwierniejszy sposób. Każde zbędne słowo, każdy dodatek literacki czy ozdoba wyróżniały się, powodując poczucie dysonansu i niesmaku. Życie Żydów w czasie tej wojny jest tak tragiczne, że nie potrzeba ani jednego dodatkowego słowa”. Celem artykułu jest analiza lingwistyczna drastycznego języka Holokaustu na podstawie książki Archiwum Ringelbluma. Dzień po dniu Zagłady.

scholarly journals The Hungarian-Jewish Social Contract, its Rupture, and Jewish Death Rituals

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Remz
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Jewish Population ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Death Rituals ◽  
Death Ritual ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Hungarian State ◽  
The Way

This article explores the supposedly reciprocal social contract between “Greater Hungary” and its Jewish population from the “Golden Age” of the Dual Monarchy to its rupture in the Holocaust. The afterlife of this broken contract will be addressed through the upkeep and neglect of cemeteries in Subcarpathia and Hungary proper. Along the way, I present memoiristic vignettes that illustrate the challenge of loyalty to state / military authority and death rituals in the time of the 1918-1919 Hungarian-Romanian War, Jewish mourning in the context of Czechoslovakia’s loss of Subcarpathia, and the disjuncture between the normal praxis of death ritual and the spectre of Auschwitz-Birkenau, as well as the ritual contrast to Hungarian Jews who were deported, but not to Auschwitz. I also turn to the historical research of Tim Cole and Daniel Rosenthal, in conjunction with Hungarian (especially North-Transylvanian) Holocaust memoirs, to reflect on Holocaust-era suicide as a mode of victims’ resistance to their brutalization by Hungarian gendarmes -- the pinnacle of the betrayal of the erstwhile contract between Hungarian state authority and its Jewish population. 

Stein Rokkan’s Methodology of Macro-Historical Comparison

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-547
Author(s):  
Lars Mjøset
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Formal Theory ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Topological Maps ◽  
Historical Comparison ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Comparative Methodology ◽  
Science Framework

Stein Rokkan (1921–1979) left behind him an unfinished, ambitious macro-historical research project aiming to explain mobilization sequences, democratic resilience, and party systems in 16 Western European countries. This article explicates the comparative methodology behind this project with reference to a philosophy of social science framework. The main features of the methodology are a series of intermediate, substantive, methodological elements in between formal theory (paradigms) and empirical observations. Each element is presented in detail: lists of variables, regional grid, typological-topological maps, and comparative case reconstructions. Problems due to under-specification of variables and ambiguities in Rokkan’s ideas about parsimonious systematizations are discussed, and two possible ways of revising the methodology are sketched. Among these, the contextualist option seems the most promising one.

How rebel groups form in genocide: The Warsaw Ghetto fighters

2021 ◽  
pp. 263300242110466
Author(s):  
Julia Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Power Asymmetry ◽  
Warsaw Ghetto ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Jewish Resistance ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Rebel Group ◽  
Group Mobilization

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is emblematic of armed Jewish resistance to the Holocaust; it should also be emblematic of rebel organization formation and capacity building in the most extreme power asymmetry. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising happened because civilians who were directly experiencing a genocide formed rebel organizations that gained the capacity to hold territory. Drawing from video testimonies and memoirs of survivors, diaries of witnesses, and the work of historians, this study analyzes the formation and evolution of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB) to create and begin to validate a generalizable theory on how rebel organizations form in genocide, and how they create the capacity to hold territory from the genocidal opponent. The ŻOB evolved from a violent resistance organization to a rebel organization with a military infrastructure that could hold territory against the Nazis; further, it was this capacity to hold territory that allowed the ŻOB to win the survival of many Jews. These findings offer important insights on the possibility of rebel group mobilization against genocidal persecution, and can be used to understand contemporary genocide resisters.

Review Essays

2002 ◽  
pp. 411-412
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Holy See ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Second World ◽  
Seconde Guerre Mondiale

This chapter briefly discusses eleven volumes of archival material published by the Holy See’s Secretariat of State (external division) between 1965 and 1981. These volumes were entitled Actes et documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la seconde guerre mondiale (‘Records and Documents of the Holy See Relating to the Second World War’) and included very extensive correspondence, notes, and memoranda that throw much light on how the Vatican responded to the Holocaust, though this was not by any means the only theme dealt with in its pages. The documents were primarily in Italian, but also in French, German, English, and Latin. All the volumes except one had a separate introduction written in French. Though familiar to a small, select band of scholars, these volumes are not easily accessible to the general public or widely known.

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