Who Will Write Our History?

Who Will Write Our History? documents the Oyneg Shabes archive, a secret project to record Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. The book centers on Emanuel Ringelblum, the historian who led a team of writers, scholars and community members to create this underground chronicle. The narrative follows Ringelblum's evolution from historian to archivist as he and his collaborators work to preserve evidence of both daily life and systematic destruction. Through diaries, essays, photographs and collected materials, the Oyneg Shabes team created a vast repository of firsthand accounts and cultural documentation. The book reconstructs the methods and motivations of the archivists while placing their efforts within the broader context of Jewish historiography and resistance. Kassow examines how these writers viewed their mission not just as record-keeping, but as a form of spiritual resistance and cultural preservation. The work raises fundamental questions about historical memory, bearing witness, and who controls the narrative of catastrophic events. Through the story of Oyneg Shabes, Kassow explores how communities under existential threat fight to tell their own stories on their own terms.

Readers commend the detailed research and documentation of the Warsaw Ghetto's Oyneg Shabes archive, though some note the dense academic writing style can be challenging. Many reviews highlight how the book brings attention to Emanuel Ringelblum and his team's efforts to preserve Jewish voices and experiences. Likes: - Thorough historical context and background - Personal stories of archive members - Documentation of daily life in the ghetto - Translation of Yiddish source materials Dislikes: - Academic tone makes for difficult reading - Too much focus on pre-war biographical details - Some repetitive sections - Complex Polish/Yiddish names and references confuse readers Ratings: Goodreads: 4.34/5 (523 ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (168 ratings) Notable reader comment: "Important but dense history that requires dedication to get through. The personal stories of the archivists make it worthwhile." - Goodreads reviewer

Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto by Emanuel Ringelblum The author's firsthand account of the Warsaw Ghetto meshes with Kassow's analysis by providing direct documentation from the same archive project.

Time Capsule: The Book of Records by David Roskies and Alan Rosen This translation of the Lodz Ghetto chronicle presents another Jewish community's effort to document their experiences during the Holocaust through collective writing.

Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind by Sarah Wildman The story follows the discovery and preservation of Holocaust-era letters and documents, paralleling the themes of historical preservation found in Kassow's work.

The Archive Thief by Lisa Moses Leff This account of Zosa Szajkowski's rescue and relocation of Jewish documents during WWII explores similar themes of protecting cultural heritage during the Holocaust.

Holocaust by Bullets by Patrick Desbois The text reveals how oral histories and buried documents combine to tell the story of Nazi massacres in Ukraine, employing research methods similar to those discussed in Kassow's book.

🗃️ Emmanuel Ringelblum and his team buried their archive in milk cans and metal boxes beneath the Warsaw Ghetto, ensuring these precious historical documents would survive even if they did not. 📝 The Oyneg Shabes archive contained over 35,000 pages including diaries, poems, underground newspapers, and even candy wrappers—providing a complete picture of Jewish life during the Holocaust. 👥 The archive team specifically recruited writers from diverse backgrounds—rabbis, teachers, economists, and youth leaders—to document different perspectives of ghetto life. 🏛️ Only three members of the 60-person Oyneg Shabes team survived the war: Rachel Auerbach, Hersh Wasser, and his wife Bluma Wasser. 📚 Author Samuel Kassow spent over a decade researching this book, accessing previously untranslated Yiddish and Polish documents to tell the story of these "sacred historians" of the Warsaw Ghetto.