Yaacov Lozowick ( he, יעקב לזוביק) (b. 1957), is a German-born

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i historian and writer. He was the director of the archives at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

. From 2011 to 2018 he was Israel's Chief Archivist at the

Israel State Archives Israel State Archives (ISA; he, ארכיון מדינת ישראל ''Arkhiyon Medinat Yisra'el'') is the national archive of Israel, located in Jerusalem. The archive houses some 400 million documents, maps, stamps, audio tapes, video clips, pho ...

Biography

Yaakov Lozowick was born in 1957 in Bad Kreuznach,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1980, he gained qualifications as a tourist guide. In 1982, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1984 he obtained a diploma in

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and in 1989 a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in contemporary

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

from the Hebrew University. In 1995, he completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in contemporary Judaism at Hebrew University.

Professional career

In 1985-1990, Lozowick worked as a class educator and history teacher and at Himmelfarb high school for boys in Jerusalem. In 1986-1989, he taught modern

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

at World Union of Jewish Students Academy. He worked as a researcher at Yad Vashem from 1982, and served as director of Seminars for Educators from Abroad from 1989 to 1993. At the suggestion of Austrian political scientist Andreas Maislinger, he organized the first German-language Seminars for Educators from Abroad. From 1993 until 2007 he served as the director of the Archives at Yad Vashem. Lozowick's 2003 book '' Right to Exist: a Moral Defense of Israel's Wars'' is an attempt to apply

Just War The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

theory to Israel's wars. Lozowick was described by

Contemporary Sociology ''Contemporary Sociology'' is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal of sociology published by SAGE Publications in association with the American Sociological Association since 1972. Each issue of the journal publishes many in-depth as well ...

as a "long time leftist and peace activist."Politicide Revisited, by Chad Alan Goldberg, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 34, No. 3 (May, 2005), pp. 229-232 Lozowick was Israel's chief archivist at the

from 2011 to 2018. Lozowick was a leader in the efforts to digitize the national archives, the role of which he describes is "to transfer the documentation of the government to the possession of the governed". He has explains that "since much of the content is both fascinating and relevant to most aspects of society's life, enabling the citizens to have free and easy access to their documentation—within the obvious constraints—will enrich the public discourse and strengthen Israeli democracy." As part of this process Lozowick maintains an English language blog highlighting material made available online by the archive. In 2017, Lozowick published a report strongly critical of the procedures for releasing files and especially of new changes. The report summarized the situation thus: : Israel does not deal with its archival material as befits a democratic state. The vast majority of archival material is closed and will never be opened. The minority that will be opened will have unreasonable restrictions. There is no public accountability or transparency in the release of records.

Published works

* ''Hitler's Bureaucrats: The Nazi Security Police and the Banality of Evil'', Continuum, London and New York, 2002, * '' Right to Exist: a Moral Defense of Israel's Wars'',

Anchor Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random ...

, 2004,
''Serious Scholarship, Lightweight Polemics''
review of

Mark Mazower Mark Mazower (; born 20 February 1958) is a British historian. His expertise are Greece, the Balkans and, more generally, 20th-century Europe. He is Ira D. Wallach Professor of History at Columbia University in New York City Early life Mazowe ...

's book ''Hitler's Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe'', 2010.

References

External links

Yad Vashem

The English-language blog of the Israel State Archives (ISA)

Lozowicks Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lozowick, Yaacov 1957 births Living people Historians of the Holocaust Israeli people of German-Jewish descent People from Bad Kreuznach Israeli historians Yad Vashem people