Israel Gutman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Israel Gutman
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| ישראל גוטמן | |
Israel Gutman at Adolf Eichmann's trial in 1961
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| Born | 20 May 1923 |
| Died | 1 October 2013 (aged 90) Jerusalem, Israel
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| Nationality | Poland (1923-1946) Israel (1946-2013) |
| Occupation | Holocaust survivor, historian |
Israel Gutman (Hebrew: ישראל גוטמן; May 20, 1923 – October 1, 2013) was an Israeli historian. He was born in Poland and survived the Holocaust. He spent his life studying and teaching about this terrible time in history.
A Life of Survival and History
Israel Gutman was born in a city called Warsaw in Poland. During World War II, he was part of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This was a brave fight by Jewish people against the Nazi soldiers in 1943. He was hurt during this uprising.
After the uprising, he was sent to several very harsh places called concentration camps. These included Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen. Sadly, his parents and brothers and sisters died in the ghetto. In January 1945, he survived a long, difficult journey called a death march from Auschwitz to Mauthausen. He was finally freed by American soldiers.
After the war, he joined a group called the Jewish Brigade in Italy. In 1946, he moved to what was then called Mandatory Palestine. This area later became the country of Israel. He joined a special community farm called a Kibbutz named Lehavot HaBashan. He lived there for 25 years and started his own family. In 1961, he shared his experiences in court during the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann was a high-ranking Nazi officer who played a big part in the Holocaust.
Studying History
Israel Gutman became a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also helped lead the International Auschwitz Council. This group works to remember and learn from what happened at the Auschwitz camp.
He was the main editor for a very important book called the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. This book contains a lot of information about the Holocaust. He also won an award called the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize for his studies on military history.
At Yad Vashem, which is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, he held several important jobs. He led the International Institute for Holocaust Research from 1993 to 1996. Then he was the Chief Historian from 1996 to 2000. After that, he became an Academic Advisor. He also gave advice to the Polish government about Jewish history and remembering the Holocaust.
Israel Gutman passed away in Jerusalem, Israel, when he was 90 years old.
Books by Israel Gutman
Here are some of the books Israel Gutman wrote or helped to write:
- The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt (1982)
- Unequal Victims: Poles and Jews in World War Two (1986)
- The Jews of Poland Between Two World Wars (1989)
- Anatomy of Auschwitz Death Camp (with Michael Berenbaum, 1994)
- Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1994)
- Emanuel Ringelblum – The Man and the Historian (2006)
See also
In Spanish: Israel Gutman para niños
