Who Will Write Our History? Rediscovering A Hidden Archive From The Warsaw Ghetto

by: Samuel D. Kassow

Published by: Vintage Books

Reviewed by Diane Snyder

The Warsaw ghetto will never be forgotten, and due to the efforts of some extraordinary people, a definitive picture of the life in this ghetto during the Nazi occupation was left as a legacy for future researchers and historians.
In 1940, under the leadership of historian and teacher Emanuel Ringelblum, Oyneg Shabes Archive was begun in the hopes that these records, when recovered, would reveal to the world the history and life of the Jews in Poland under German occupation. This task was so important and dangerous that the members of the archive formed a “secret sacred society,” and each potential member was carefully vetted before being approached to participate. Although many where chosen from the intelligentsia of Jewish culture, some were solicited because of the public functions they performed and could gather information without suspicion.

Every type of paper was secreted away in milk cans and tins for the archive– candy wrappers, play bills, ration cards, train tickets and post cards as well as diaries and photos. It was the archive’s goal to leave an account of daily life in the ghetto and to document the crimes of the Nazis. Some hoped for revenge and justice, other wanted the world to know they had been there as individuals and as a people.

Striving for an objectivity that included both good and bad of those living in the ghetto, Ringelblum did not edit or censor what went into the archive. Accusations about and names of collaborators were included along with accounts of those who made extraordinary sacrifices. Fortunately three members of the archive survived and in 1946 began retrieval of some of the twenty or so milk cans and tins that had been buried–others were destroyed or never found.

The author, Samuel D. Kassow, wrote that this book was a “daunting undertaking” – it is also daunting and sometimes emotionally difficult to read. Kassow brings an event in history to a very personal level as he quotes some of the diaries and letters of individuals whose hopes were gone, knew their death was unavoidable and wanted to be remembered.

Armchair Interviews agrees these stories need to told–and then read.