October 1 marks 12 years since the death of Israel Gutman – a boy from the Warsaw Ghetto, a fighter, a prisoner of Majdanek and Auschwitz, and after the war, one of the most outstanding historians of the Holocaust. His life, full of drama, also became a mission to pass on the memory of the Shoah.
Fighter and Prisoner
Born in 1923 in Warsaw, Israel Gutman joined the Zionist youth organization Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair in his youth. During World War II, he was active in the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) and took part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. His parents and older sister died before the uprising began. Not yet 20 years old, Israel was left to care for his younger sister, who was eventually taken into Janusz Korczak’s orphanage.
On the night of April 22, 1943, Israel took part in an attempt to extinguish a fire on the roof of a building at 30 Franciszkańska Street, but was shot in the face by encountered German soldiers.
In a recorded testimony for the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Center, Gutman recalled that moment:
“They told us: ‘Stop!’ and ‘Hands up!’ And I had my (…) in hand and I shot at them. And they ran away. There were two of them. But they threw a grenade, and from that grenade, to this day, I have lots of these [scars],” Israel Gutman recounted.
After the fall of the uprising, the Jewish fighter was deported to the Nazi German camps of Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen-Gusen, where he survived the hell of the death march.
Witness to History
In 1961, Gutman participated as a witness in the trial of Adolf Eichmann. His testimony revealed the brutality of the Nazis’ systematic crimes and became an invaluable record for the world. After the war, he settled in Israel, where he devoted himself to education and Holocaust research.
Historian and Educator
Gutman earned a doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust and the chief historian at Yad Vashem. He authored, among other works, The Jews of Warsaw, 1939–1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt, and led the Yad Vashem Institute for Holocaust Research.
For many years, Israel Gutman was instrumental in fostering Polish-Jewish dialogue and building a culture of remembrance for the victims. His expertise and moral authority led him to serve as Vice-Chairman of the International Auschwitz Council (2000–2012) and as a member of the International Honorary Committee of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (2009–2013). He also sat on the Program Council for the project “Index of Poles Murdered and Persecuted for Helping Jews During World War II.”
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