Prof. Havi Dreifuss

Yad Vashem historians respond to the joint statement of the Governments of Poland and Israel concerning the revision of the January 26, 2018, amendment to Poland’s Act on the Institute of National Remembrance

The June 27, 2018, announcement regarding the Government of Poland’s intention to revise the amendment to the controversial Act on the Institute of National Remembrance stirred hope that a positive development and a step in the right direction were at hand. However, an examination of the joint statement by the Governments of Poland and Israel raises many questions both about the legal statute as approved and about assertions pertaining to historical aspects of the topic in the joint statement... Continue reading

A Major Blow to Holocaust Research and Remembrance

The recent amendment passed by the Polish parliament and approved by the Polish president to Poland's National Institute of Remembrance Law, constitutes a major blow to Holocaust research and remembrance. The original law was first enacted with a view to promote research and documentation of crimes that were committed in and against Poland by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, from the outbreak of WWII (1 September 1939) until the end of Soviet rule in Poland (December 1989). The current addendum,... Continue reading

The Human Spirit in the Shadow of Death

During WWII, European Jewry was faced with a constant fight for its very survival. At a time when murder became the norm, and power endorsed unprecedented atrocities, many were swept away, unable to endure the perpetual struggle or adhere to the moral code of human society. Yet even under such dire conditions there were those who risked their lives — deliberately and intentionally — for higher values, including educating children, maintaining religious values and traditions, and sustaining... Continue reading

Yisrael Gutman (1923–2013) - Holocaust Survivor, Ghetto Fighter, and Jewish Historian

“They Are So Alive Inside Me”1 On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, Prof. Yisrael Gutman, one of the giants of Holocaust research in Israel and the world over, passed away in bed in his Jerusalem home at the age of ninety. Yisrael Gutman’s death marks a turning point in research into the fate of European Jewry during World War II not only due to the passing of a seminal historian who — together with his colleague, Prof. Yehuda Bauer, who remains with us — laid the foundations for this... Continue reading

The Human Spirit in the Shadow of Death

During the war, European Jewry was faced with a constant struggle for their very survival. Yet even under such terrible conditions there were those who acted in areas that went beyond the necessities of human existence: they risked their lives - deliberately and intentionally - for higher values, including educating their children, maintaining religious values and traditions and sustaining centuries-old cultural activities. Unfortunately, not all those who succeeded survived the hell that was... Continue reading