Author Samuel Kassow Discusses Emanuel Ringelblum

and Documentation of the Holocaust

at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

New York, NY- Following the Nazi invasion of Poland, Polish-Jewish historian and social worker Emmanuel Ringelblum dedicated himself to the preservation of documents from within the Warsaw Ghetto that would tell this chapter of Jewish history to future generations. “We endeavored to convey the whole truth,” said Ringelblum, “no matter how bitter, and we presented faithful, unadorned pictures.” On Wednesday, March 5, join author Samuel D. Kassow as he discusses his new book Who Will Write Our History? Emanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Oyneg Shabbes Archives. This fascinating discussion will begin at 6:30 P.M. at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Tickets are $5, free for members and may be purchased online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at (646) 437-4202.

From illegal underground newspapers, to Judenrat public notices, to concert invitations and chocolate wrappers, Ringelblum and other members of the group known as Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of Sabbath”) made sure that all aspects of life in the ghetto were preserved, often risking their lives to do so. Who Will Write Our History? examines the life of this remarkable man and gives insights to the nature of why people feel compelled to preserve their material history in periods of duress.

Samuel D. Kassow is the Charles Northam Professor of History at Trinity College. He is author of Students, Professors, and the State in Tsarist Russia, 1884 and editor (with Edith W. Clowes) of Between Tsar and People: The Search for a Public Identity in Tsarist Russia.

This program is part of the Museum’s book club, Looking Back, Facing Forward, co-sponsored by the Forward and moderated by its associate editor, Gabriel Sanders. It is presented in conjunction with the special exhibition Daring to Resist: Jewish Defiance in the Holocaust.

WHAT: Who Will Write Our History? Emanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Oyneg Shabes Archives

with author Samuel D. Kassow

WHERE: Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

36 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280

WHEN: Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30 P.M.

COST: $5 all tickets, free members