Szymon Datner
Encyclopedia
Szymon Datner was a Polish
historian of Jewish descent, best known for his studies of Nazi war crimes committed against the Jewish population of the Białystok area (Bezirk Bialystok
) after the German attack on the Soviet Union
in June 1941.
Datner settled into Białystok in 1928. Before the outbreak of World War II
, Datner worked as a P.E.
teacher at a Jewish gymnasium in Białystok. He lived in the city with his wife and two daughters throughout the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland and after the Nazi German attack on USSR was forced to move into a ghetto with his family. He helped smuggle several people out of Białystok Ghetto on May 24, 1943. However, his wife and daughters did not survive its liquidation. After the war, Datner served as head of the Białystok branch of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland (CŻKH) for two years. "A survivor himself, he deposited his own testimony at the Jewish Historical Commission in Białystok on September 28, 1946." The same year, CŻKH published his Walka i zagłada Białostockiego Ghetta (The fight and annihilation of the Białystok ghetto) in Łódź. Datner moved to Warsaw
in the late 1940s. He became a prominent specialists in World War II crimes and the Holocaust
, nonetheless, he was dismissed from his position in the course of the 1968 Polish political crisis, and rehabilitated soon afterwards. In 1969–1970 he presided over the Jewish Historical Institute
of Warsaw
, and was one of the historians at the Polish Commission to Investigate Nazi Crimes, now part of the Institute of National Remembrance
. Datner made the most comprehensive documentation of the war crimes and atrocities of Nazi Germany in eastern Poland. According to Datner, the German commandos, although engaged in the extermination of Jews on their own, acted also as instigators, enforcing the cooperation of local people. Datner explored the matters of responsibility for the massacre in Jedwabne, but did not identify the SS Sonderkommando present at the scene.
Datner died in 1989 in Warsaw
and is buried at the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
. His daughter, Helena Datner-Śpiewak, is also a notable Polish-Jewish historian and sociologist.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
historian of Jewish descent, best known for his studies of Nazi war crimes committed against the Jewish population of the Białystok area (Bezirk Bialystok
Bezirk Bialystok
The Bezirk Bialystok , also Belostok was an administrative unit that existed during the World War II occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany...
) after the German attack on the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
in June 1941.
Datner settled into Białystok in 1928. Before the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Datner worked as a P.E.
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
teacher at a Jewish gymnasium in Białystok. He lived in the city with his wife and two daughters throughout the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland and after the Nazi German attack on USSR was forced to move into a ghetto with his family. He helped smuggle several people out of Białystok Ghetto on May 24, 1943. However, his wife and daughters did not survive its liquidation. After the war, Datner served as head of the Białystok branch of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland (CŻKH) for two years. "A survivor himself, he deposited his own testimony at the Jewish Historical Commission in Białystok on September 28, 1946." The same year, CŻKH published his Walka i zagłada Białostockiego Ghetta (The fight and annihilation of the Białystok ghetto) in Łódź. Datner moved to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
in the late 1940s. He became a prominent specialists in World War II crimes and the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, nonetheless, he was dismissed from his position in the course of the 1968 Polish political crisis, and rehabilitated soon afterwards. In 1969–1970 he presided over the Jewish Historical Institute
Jewish Historical Institute
The Jewish Historical Institute is a research institute in Warsaw, Poland, primarily dealing with the history of Jews in Poland.The Jewish Historical Institute was created in 1947 as a continuation of the Central Jewish Historical Commission, founded in 1944. The Jewish Historical Institute...
of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, and was one of the historians at the Polish Commission to Investigate Nazi Crimes, now part of the Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is a Polish government-affiliated research institute with lustration prerogatives and prosecution powers founded by specific legislation. It specialises in the legal and historical sciences and...
. Datner made the most comprehensive documentation of the war crimes and atrocities of Nazi Germany in eastern Poland. According to Datner, the German commandos, although engaged in the extermination of Jews on their own, acted also as instigators, enforcing the cooperation of local people. Datner explored the matters of responsibility for the massacre in Jedwabne, but did not identify the SS Sonderkommando present at the scene.
Datner died in 1989 in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and is buried at the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Located on Warsaw's Okopowa street and abutting the Powązki Cemetery at , the Jewish Cemetery was established in 1806 and occupies 33 hectares of land. The cemetery contains over 200,000 marked graves, as well...
. His daughter, Helena Datner-Śpiewak, is also a notable Polish-Jewish historian and sociologist.
Publications
- Walka i Zagłada białostockiego getta (Łódź, 1946)
- Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu na jeńcach wojennych w II wojnie światowej (WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, 1961) - Zbrodnie okupanta w czasie powstania warszawskiego w 1944 roku (w dokumentach) (Warsaw, 1962)
- Wilhelm Koppe - nieukarany zbrodniarz hitlerowski (Warsaw-PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, 1963) - Ucieczki z niewoli niemieckiej 1939-1945 (Warsaw, 1966)
- Eksterminacja ludności żydowskiej w Okręgu Białostockim (Bulletin of the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, October–December 1966, no. 60: pp. 3–29)
- Niemiecki okupacyjny aparat bezpieczeństwa w okręgu białostockim (1941–1944) w świetle materiałów niemieckich (opracowania Waldemara Macholla) 1965)
- 55 dni Wehrmachtu w Polsce (Warsaw, 1967)
- Las sprawiedliwych. Karta z dziejów ratownictwa Żydow w okupowanej Polsce ( Warsaw, 1968)
- Tragedia w Doessel - (ucieczki z niewoli niemieckiej 1939-1945 ciąg dalszy) (Warsaw, 1970)
- Z mądrości Talmudu (Warsaw, 1988)