Israel-Gutman-Obituary

Israel Gutman

1923 - 2013

Obituary

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel Gutman, who survived the Nazi atrocities of World War II and dedicated his life to researching the Holocaust, has died. He was 90.

Estee Yaari, spokeswoman for the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, said Gutman died in his sleep late Monday in Jerusalem.

Gutman was born in Warsaw in 1923. He was wounded during fighting in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 when a few hundred poorly armed Jews put up resistance to Nazi troops who were rounding up residents and sending them to death camps.

His parents and siblings died in the Ghetto while Gutman was incarcerated in two concentration camps as well as the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.

After the war, he moved to Israel where he helped survivors and devoted himself to studying the Holocaust. He served in several prominent capacities at Yad Vashem including chief historian and head of its international research institute.

In 1961 he testified in the trial of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann who had been nabbed by Mossad agents in Argentina the year before and brought to Jerusalem.

Yad Vashem described Gutman as a "trailblazing historian." Chairman Avner Shalev said his insight as "someone who experienced in the flesh the horrors of the Holocaust, fought in the Warsaw ghetto, was imprisoned in Auschwitz and was a member of the camp's Jewish underground, survived the death marches and was a witness to all that occurred - added an enormous weight to his rare and exceptional strength as a researcher, teacher and leader."

Gutman's projects included the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust which Yad Vashem called "comprehensive and groundbreaking."

He is survived by two daughters, and three grandchildren.

The funeral is due on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

IAN DEITCH




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Dear Gutman family, there aren't enough words to express the gratitude I, and many Americans, have for your beloved Israel and all he endured in the loss of his entire family to the Nazis. We thank him for the efforts he put into researching the books he has published and left for the rest of us to learn by. May he be with the Lord for eternity and never worry about another bullet or book, but enjoy much time with those he lost. We salute Prof. Israel Gutman.

To the Family and Close Friends of Israel Gutman: Our deepest condolences for your loss; hoping that the loving memories that you shared with Israel will sustain you during the difficult times ahead. May you find comfort in the words at Isaiah 2:4: "And he will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against...

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

Fond memory of Professor Gutman addressing Vladka & Ben Meed's teachers in 1990. A warm smile ,a caring man. My sympathies to the family and to all at Yad Vashem

You are now embraced by those we will never forget. You have fulfilled a prophecy and recorded God's tribe's pain. Shalom

God Bless your work during those times and may we remember...

May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as you celebrate a life well lived. - Eccl. 7:1

I would like to express my condolences for your loss of your loved one.