Koppel Shub Pinson (1904–1961) was a historian who specialized in the origins of German nationalism.

Early life

Born in Postawy,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

), on February 11, 1904, Pinson immigrated to the United States with his family in 1907.

Career

After receiving his doctorate in history from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1934, he was a professor at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

of the City University of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

until his death. In 1955, he joined the American Committee for the Study of War Documents, a group of American historians that sought to have captured German records microfilmed before being returned to West Germany.

World War Two

Even before World War Two, Pinson was active in assisting refugee scholars during the 1930s. At the end of the Second World War, he joined the U.S. Army and actively participated in the efforts to help Jewish survivors of the Holocaust living in

Displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for interna ...

s across Germany, organized by the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

and the

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...

(UNRRA). In 1945, he was appointed Director of Education and Culture for Jewish Displaced Persons in Germany and Austria by the Joint Distribution Committee, working as of late 1945 at the

Offenbach Archival Depot The Offenbach Archival Depot was a central collecting point in the American Sector of Germany for books, manuscripts and archival materials looted, confiscated or taken by the German army or Nazi government from the occupied countries during World ...

Works

*''A bibliographical introduction to nationalism.'' New York, Columbia University Press, 1935. *''The Jewish spirit in Nazi Germany.'' Chicago, 1937. *''Poetry of Hassidism.'' New York : Menorah Journal, 1941. *''Essays on anti-Semitism.'' New York, Conference on Jewish relations, 1942. *''Arkady Kremer, Vladimir Medem, and the ideology of the Jewish "Bund."'' ew York, 1945*''Jewish life in liberated Germany.'' New York : Conference on Jewish relations, 1947. *''The national theories of Simon Dubnow'' Conference on Jewish Relations, New York, 1948 *''Nationalism in the Western World.'' Washington, Institute of Ethnic Studies, Georgetown University, 1959. *''Modern Germany: its history and civilization'' New York : Macmillan, 1966. *''Pietism as a factor in the rise of German nationalism.'' New York, Octagon s, 1968 �1934

References

External links

Koppel S. Pinson papers
at the New York Public Library
Koppel S. Pinson Collection
at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York
Digitized scrapbook
of Pinson's post-war work in Europe {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinson, Koppel 1904 births 1961 deaths Jewish American historians Queens College, City University of New York faculty 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States