Samuel D. Kassow (born October 3, 1946) is an American historian of the history of

Ashkenazi Jewry Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language t ...

Early life

Kassow was born in a

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

s' camp in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany. His mother survived because she, along with her sister, was hidden in a dug-out underneath a barn on a classmate's family's farm; his father was arrested by the Soviets and spent the duration of the war in a Soviet prison camp. Kassow grew up in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

Education

Kassow graduated from the

Watkinson School Watkinson School is a private co-educational independent day school in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Watkinson is situated on Bloomfield Avenue adjacent to the University of Hartford. It serves students from 6th through 12th grade. Wat ...

in Hartford, Connecticut in 1962. In 1966, he earned his B.A. from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Hartford, Connecticut. In 1968, Kassow earned a M.Sc. from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. In 1976, he earned a Ph.D. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Career

Kassow was the Charles Northam Professor at Trinity College for many years. Kassow was a consultant to the Museum of History of the Polish Jews, which opened on the site of the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

, and was responsible for two of the eight core exhibitions.CT News (June 8, 2010)
Samuel Kassow elected to American Academy for Jewish Research

Jewish Ledger The ''Jewish Ledger'' is Connecticut's only weekly Jewish newspaper. The Hartford newspaper also has a monthly edition serving the Greater Hartford and western Massachusetts area. History It was founded in April 1929 by Samuel Neusner (who h ...

, Connecticut Edition. Retrieved December 22, 2013. In his book, ''Who Will Write Our History? Rediscovering a Hidden Archive From the Warsaw Ghetto'', Kassow speaks about the importance of preserving historical documents and the past. He describes the historical events going on during World War II in the 1940s that affected and eventually eliminated the Warsaw Ghetto. His main focus is the

Ringelblum Archive The Ringelblum Archive is a collection of documents from the World War II Warsaw Ghetto, collected and preserved by a group known by the codename Oyneg Shabbos (in Modern Israeli Hebrew, Oneg Shabbat; ), led by Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum. ...

created in absolute secrecy by a small group of people that lived in the Warsaw Ghetto which were uncovered and studied about ten years later. In 2014,

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

and the United States Holocaust Museum published ''

The Clandestine History of the Kovno Jewish Ghetto Police ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

'', with an introduction by Kassow. His 2007 book ''Who Will Write Our History'' was adapted into a documentary film of the same title, directed by

Roberta Grossman Roberta Grossman is an American filmmaker. Her documentaries range from social justice inquiries to historical subjects with a focus on Jewish history. Early life and education Roberta Grossman was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Sh ...

and produced by

Nancy Spielberg Nancy Spielberg (born June 7, 1956) is an American film producer who has produced multiple documentaries on Jewish and Israeli history. She is the third and youngest sister of director and producer Steven Spielberg. Early life and education She ...

. It was released in 2018.

Books and articles

* ''Students, Professors, and the State in Tsarist Russia: 1884-1917,'' University of California Press, 1989. . * ''Between Tsar and People: the Search for a Public Identity in Tsarist Russia''. Edith Clowes, Samuel Kassow, James L. West eds. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1991. . * ''The Distinctive Life of East European Jewry,'' YIVO, New York 2004 * ''Who will Write our History: Emanuel Ringelblum and the Oyneg Shabes Archive,'' Indiana University Press, 2007 * ''The Holocaust'' in ''The Cambridge History of Judaism'' Vol VIII pages 633-671, Cambridge University Press, 2018

Personal life

Kassow is married to Lisa Pleskow Kassow. She is a director of Zach's Hillel at Trinity College.

References

External links

*
Samuel Kassow's Who Will Write Our History?
- Review by Clara Weiss {{DEFAULTSORT:Kassow, Samuel Historians of Ashkenazi Jewry 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Princeton University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Trinity College (Connecticut) faculty 1946 births Living people Writers from New Haven, Connecticut American people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish American historians Historians from Connecticut American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American Jews American Ashkenazi Jews