Moshe Tzinovitz filled page after page with the stories of rabbis and communities that no longer exist. Now, as his scattered archive is finally being organized, a portrait emerges of the man who devoted his life to preserving the memories of others, while leaving little order in his own papers.
From Nazi Germany to October 7: A Family’s Story of Survival, Resilience and Memory
The Heilbronners were a Jewish-German family who fled their home in Stuttgart following the Nazis’ rise to power. They arrived in the Land of Israel in the 1930s, with one of their sons later settling in Kibbutz Be’eri. A family diary, which documented the pre-war era in Germany, narrowly avoided destruction on October 7, 2023, as it was brought to the National Library shortly before.
The Jewish Chemist Who Dissolved Nobel Prizes to Hide Them From the Nazis
George Charles de Hevesy, a scientist of Jewish origin, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the height of World War II while living in hiding as a refugee. But even before that, he had carried out a daring and ingenious operation — using his scientific expertise to conceal Nobel Prize medals from the Nazis. What does all this have to do with a mischievous landlady who served him recycled leftovers? This is the story of a brilliant and resourceful scientist.
“Literature is stronger than death”: How a Poem by Avrom Sutzkever Saved His Own Life
In 1943, while hiding from the Nazis in a Lithuanian forest, Sutzkever managed to smuggle a booklet containing his poem “Kol Nidre” to Moscow. The poem was so powerful it convinced the Soviet authorities to send a plane and execute a daring rescue mission that brought Sutzkever and his wife to safety. Today that booklet is preserved at the National Library of Israel.
Raoul Wallenberg: The Mysterious Disappearance of a Hero
The fate of the Holocaust-era rescuer of Jews remains unknown, but his example continues to resonate.
From Treblinka to Stalingrad: The Many Truths of Vasily Grossman
How a Soviet-Jewish reporter became one of the 20th century’s most essential truth-tellers.
Hauser’s List: The Man Who Saved Hundreds of Jewish Musicians from Europe
The story you are about to read has remained hidden for 85 years. It is a story of music, beauty, and compassion – through which hundreds of lives were saved from the clutches of the Nazis, right under the watchful eye of the British Mandate authorities. This is the story of Emil Hauser, a gifted musician and a national hero.
Michel Kichka Illustrates Our World
Great talent, optimism, sensitivity, compassion, and a deep love for this country, which he had longed to reach since childhood, all come together in Michel Kichka, making him one of Israel’s greatest graphic artists. We spoke with him about what led to the creation of his most personal graphic memoir, why he insists on keeping the family name “Kichka,” and what it was like working with Meir Shalev.
The Eichmann Effect
Sixty-five years ago, Israel tracked down and arrested Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Final Solution. In many ways, the capture and subsequent trial marked a turning point in Israeli history. A look back at a seminal event.
The Lost Train: The Story of the Transport That Never Reached Theresienstadt
A 139-year-old book acquired by the National Library contained a unique and unexpected keepsake from a victim of the Nazis in the Netherlands. Who was Vroutje Bloemist? Why did her story suddenly attract our attention decades after her death? And what became of the Nazis’ “Lost Train,” aboard which Bloemist was a passenger?
