Photo: Left to right, Rivka Liebeskind (Dolek’s wife), Dolek Liebeskind, Miriam Liebeskind (Dolek’s sister). Rivka survived. Photo from Ghetto Fighters’ House, Israel. 530 words / 2 ½ minute read “We are fighting for three lines in the history books.” Adolf (Dolek) Liebeskind, Cracow, 20 November 1942 On December 22, a month…
Photo: The Western Front, November 11, photo by United States Signal Corps, from First World War 460 words / 2 minute read On the morning of 9 November 1918, the German armistice negotiators reached the Forest of Compiègne. The German military delegate, Major-General von Winterfeldt, was the son of the man…
Photo: Karl Huhle’s photo of Hitler descending the stairway at the Berghof near Berchtesgaden to meet the former Prime Minister Lloyd George in September 1936; the interpreter Paul-Otto Schmidt is in the centre, lifting his hat, and Joachim von Ribbentrop at the left. 800 words / 4 minute read “I am…
Photo: Barbara Winton with her father, Sir Nicholas Winton, and her book. 430 words / 2 minute read “Do you want to meet Nicholas Winton?” Not an offer people get every day, even an offer made to Martin Gilbert’s groupie and wife. It was 2005, Martin was writing his book on…
Photo: The cover of the first edition of Anne Frank’s diary, The Secret Annexe, published in Amsterdam in 1947. Many editions, translations, adaptations followed. 650 words / 3 minute read Anne Frank’s story has gone through many representations. My favourite is this one: The stage is set as a dwelling that has…
Photo: Part of one of the 32 pages of photos of those killed on 27 August 1942, or 14 Elul 5702 on the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to 10 September 2022, the 80th Yahrzeit, or anniversary of the destruction of Sarny’s Jewish community. 520 words / 2 ½ minute read If a…
Photo: Randolph and Catherine Churchill, on board the Queen Mary off Long Beach, California, 26 May 2016 Those in the Churchill world were saddened to hear of the passing of Catherine Churchill, Randolph’s wife, companion and helpmate. I really only got to know Randolph after Martin became ill, and saw Catherine…
Photo: John Gielgud as Aaron Jastrow, in Herman Wouk’s War and Remembrance 600 words/3 minute read How do we comprehend senseless evil? How do we respond when words lead to violence and to murder? (And with all the advances mankind has created to make life better, why is there even still…
Photo: Wing Commander Jim Wright DFC. 2275 words / 11 minute read 10 January 2008 Wing Commander A J Wright DFC RAF(Ret) to Sir Martin Gilbert via his website: With support from many in Canada, OZ, NZ and UK, but lacking the official help needed from the Bomber Command Association (BCA)…
Photo: The Vrba-Wetzler escape route from Auschwitz to Jewish leaders in Slovakia, to bring the news of the death camp to the Jews of Hungary 770 words / 3 minute read “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” was how Caroline Edwards described to the Congressional Committee the January 6th “war scene” she,…
Photo: 1 November 2015, with Alan Palmer, Oxford 720 words/ 3 ½ minute read One of the early inspirations in Martin’s life and subsequent historical work was his Highgate School History Master, his mentor, his friend, Alan Palmer who sadly died this spring in his 96th year. In 2005, with the 90th anniversary…
Photo: 14 March 2006, with Gerda Klein, Phoenix, Arizona 550 words/ 2 ½ minute read “Shaking my head, I stared at this man who was to me the embodiment of all heroism and liberty. He greeted me. I must tell him from the start, I resolved, so that he has…
Photo: Wendy Higgins with Ben Helfgott, one of the Loughton Boys, and Sir Martin’s book. Maurice Helfgott, Ben’s son, stands behind Wendy. Photo from video. 250 words / 2 minute read A short film, launched on International Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, shows a reunion and return of some of…
Photo: Jewish refugees from Muslim lands who came to Israel, 1947 to 1957, map from In Ishmael’s House 925 words / 4 ½ minute read A little knowledge never stopped anyone from making assumptions. The assumption becomes accepted, then entrenched. I was reminded of this in an article in The Times…
Photo: Entering Volhynia, Ukraine, August 2011 465 words / 2 minute read My mother was born in Poland. Outside of her home and her close circle of friends, she spoke Polish. She attended a Polish gymnasium. She could recite Pan Tadeusz, the classic epic national poem of Poland by Adam Mickiewicz. …
Photo: Churchill, A Life, Ukrainian edition, Churchill, A Life, Russian edition 335 words / 2 ½ minute read I am reminded of Yertle the Turtle, Dr Seuss’s classic tale of Yertle, a turtle in the swamp of Sala-ma-Sond who decides he wanted to be “ruler of all that I see”. Being somewhat…
Photo: Martin at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, 5 March 2009. 350 words / 1 ½ minute read Martin and I held hands. Wherever we went. We were in a restaurant in Jerusalem, sitting across from each other, and he reached over to take my hands. As we were leaving…
Photo: Vladek and Anya Spiegelman as depicted by their son Art, from the cover of his book Maus 820 words / 4 minute read An American school district has banned the use of the graphic memoir Maus in schools because it shows nudity. Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman…
Photo: The Jewish cemetery in Hordok, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine, photo taken in 2011. 470 words / 2 minute read Russia and Ukraine – there’s history there. And it probably goes back to the beginning, though the 20th Century has been particularly harsh on that relationship. In 2011 Martin and I went…
Photo: Taken from a video by Joanne Orezi, from inside the bus, of one of the attackers. 850 words / 4 minute read Another attack on a synagogue in the States during Saturday Shabbat morning services. An attack on a busload of Jews in central London. Radical imams preaching hate, not…