Dov Levin (1925 Kaunas – 2016 Jerusalem) was an Israeli historian who specialized in the study of the history of the Jew in Lithuania and the other Baltic States during the Holocaust. Levin studied at the Svabes Hebrew Gymnasium in Kaunas (until its closure in 1940 by the Soviets), and in 1941 finished the Sholem Aleichem Yiddish School. In his youth, Dov Levin was a member of Hashomer Hatzair, the Jewish Socialist-Zionist youth movement. After the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, he was interned in the Kaunas Ghetto together with his father, mother, and twin sister, none of whom survived. In the ghetto he joined the underground Zionist organization, and later joined the partisans in Vilnius area forests. After the Holocaust he was involved in Aliyah Bet activities until he immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1945 and fought in the War of Independence. He was a soldier guard on the Mt. Scopus enclave after the war. After his IDF discharge, he worked as a social worker. In 1971 he received his PhD in history from the Hebrew University, was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chicago and taught at the Hebrew University. He was one of the founders and director of the Oral History Division of the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University. Among Prof. Dov Levin's many published books and articles is Fighting Back: Lithuanian Jewry's Armed Resistance to the Nazis 1941-1945 (1985), for which he was awarded the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize in Military History. The private collection of Dov Levin includes his extensive correspondence from his life in Lithuania and Israel. It also contains interviews that he conducted, press clippings, index cards, rare photographs from the Holocaust and photocopies of historical sources from the Holocaust. The collection contains various articles on Jews in the Baltics and the Soviet Union during the Holocaust, Dov Levin’s numerous articles, drafts of his books and works. In addition, the collection includes articles about Dov Levin, and materials related to his public activities in the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel. The collection is not fully catalogued (2021) --
Title |
Dov Levin. |
---|---|
Contributors |
AndrewEzergailis Shelomoh ben MoshehLevinger Hebrew University of Jerusalem Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry. Oral History Division Maśuʼah (Institute) Bet loḥame ha-geṭaʼot (Lohame Hageta'ot, Israel) Tel Aviv University. Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center Yad ṿa-shem, rashut ha-zikaron la-Shoʼah ṿela-gevurah Tarbuth Foundation Lietuvos Žydų kultūros draugija Igud yotsʼe Liṭa be-Yiśraʼel |
Notes |
Materials relating to Prof. Dov Levin are also included in the archive of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center in Tel Aviv University in the Ghetto fighters Museum in the Massuah archives, and in adiitional institutions in Israel. The collection of the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel contains copies of letters sent by the Levin family to relatives in Israel before and after the Holocaust (A37/69.5), a copy of a letter sent by rabbi Shlomo Levinger (Great-grandfather of Dov Levin) in 1931 (A37/69.6), photos from Dov Levin's archive, and more. In addition, Dov Levin transferred the archive of his books and articles to the Yad Vashem Library in 2009. |
Host Item |
Levin, Dov - Private Collection |
Level of Description |
Fonds Record |
Biographical summary |
Dov Levin was born in 1925 in Kaunas (Lithuania). He studied at the Svabes Hebrew Gymnasium in Kaunas, that was connected with the Tarbut educational network. After its closure, in 1940 by the Soviets, he continued his studies in the Sholem Aleichem Yiddish School. From the age of twelve, Levin was a member of the Hashomer Hatzair Socialist-Zionist Jewish youth movement. Following the Nazi occupation of Lithuania he was interned in the Kaunas Ghetto together with his father, mother, and twin sister, none of whom survived. In the ghetto he joined the underground Zionist organization, and joined the partisans in Vilnius area forests in 1944. In the summer of 1944, he was recruited by the Soviets to secretly find collaborators with the Nazi regime. He also helped Jews escape across Soviet borders to Eretz Israel. He immigrated to Eretz Israel at the end of 1945. He fought in the War of Independence, and was one of the soldier guards on the Mt. Scopus enclave after the war. After graduating from the Hebrew University, he worked as a social worker. In the 1950s he began to interview and record Jewish fighters against the Nazis and Holocaust survivors. In 1971, Dov Levin received his PhD in history from the Hebrew University. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chicago and taught at the Hebrew University. He was one of the founders and director of the Oral History Division at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University. Among Prof. Dov Levin's many published books and articles is Fighting Back: Lithuanian Jewry's Armed Resistance to the Nazis 1941-1945 (1985), for which he was awarded the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize in Military History. Since the 1990s, he strongly opposed the policy of "rehabilitation" of Nazi collaborators, the Baltic countries adopted shortly after declaring their independence. He died in Jerusalem in 2016. |
Language Note |
Russian Yiddish French German Polish Hebrew English Lithuanian some Romanian some Italian |
Credits |
The collection is not yet fully-catalogued. |
National Library system number |
990043425450205171 |
Links |
פרטים על מיקום החומר/Location&access |
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The collection is not yet fully-catalogued.
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MARC RECORDS
Tags
- Zionism -- Lithuania -- Kaunas
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Jewish resistance
- Aliyah Bet (1933-1948)
- Jews -- Education -- Lithuania -- Kaunas
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Baltic States
- Fulbright scholarships -- United States
- Literary prizes -- Israel
- Holocaust survivors -- Israel -- Interviews
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Baltic States -- Personal narratives
- Jews -- Lithuania -- History -- 1939-1945
- Jews -- Baltic States -- History -- 20th century
- Jewish ghettos -- Lithuania -- Kaunas
- Jerusalem (Israel) -- History -- 1948-1967, From War of Independence to Six-Day War
- Israel -- History -- War of Independence, 1948-1949
- Kaunas (Lithuania)
- Jerusalem (Israel)
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