Professor Israel Gutman, a prominent Holocaust scholar, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90.
Gutman was among the Warsaw Ghetto fighters, an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor, and one of the founders of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. In a statement, the institution said, "Gutman was a prominent figure, a pioneer and world leader among historians in the study of the Jewish Holocaust in Europe, and the senior among them in Israel."
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Gutman, who lived in Jerusalem, was a widower and left behind two daughters and three grandchildren. The funeral procession will leave tomorrow at 15:00 from Congregation Givat Shaul in Jerusalem .
Yad Vashem Chairman, Avner Shalev, eugolized Gutman, "My teacher and friend. Professor Israel Gutman left a deep imprint on historiographical work in Israel and abroad, and has made a significant and unique contribution to the historical consciousness of the Holocaust and its implications among the general public, especially among youth."
Shalev said, "The biography of Professor Gutman – as someone who knows the horrors of the period, fought in the Warsaw Ghetto, was imprisoned in Auschwitz and was a member of the Jewish underground in the camp, survived the death marches, and witnessed what happened – adds to his power as a rare and unique researcher, educator and leader."
Professor Israel Gutman (Photo: Atta Awisat)
Gutman was born in Warsaw in 1923, grew up there and joined Hashomer Hatzair. During the German occupation, he was a member of the Jewish Fighting Organization in the ghetto and took part in the uprising. His parents and older sister perished in the Warsaw Ghetto. His little sister, Genia, was in the orphanage of Janusz Korczak and perished in Treblinka in the large expulsion of summer 1942.
Prisoner in several concentration camps
Gutman was a member of the Jewish underground in Warsaw and the Jewish Fighting Organization during the Warsaw ghetto uprising, and was wounded during the rebellion in battle against German soldiers, losing an eye. After this, Gutman was a prisoner at the concentration camps of Majdanek, Auschwitz and Mauthausen.
After liberation he was active among Holocaust survivors, and founded Kibbutz Aviv in Santa de Lioka, Italy. In 1947, he immigrated to Israel and joined Kibbutz Lehavot HaBashan. In 1961, he spoke on the witness stand in the Jerusalem court where Adolph Eichmann was tried. There he testified regarding his experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Majdanek and Auschwitz camps.
In 1973, he moved to Jerusalem, and upon completion of his doctorate in 1975, began teaching at the Hebrew University, where he served until his retirement in 1993. At the same time, he became a leader in scientific activity and research at Yad Vashem and was, as mentioned, founder of the International Institute for Holocaust Research, serving as its director. From 2000 until his death, he served as an academic advisor to Yad Vashem. Gutman also served as Vice Chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee.