Nora Levin (September 20, 1916 – October 26, 1989) was a historian of the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
and a writer. She was most interested in the topics of the
Jewish Labor Bund
The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia ( yi, אַלגעמײנער ייִדישער אַרבעטער־בונד אין ליטע, פּױלן און רוסלאַנד , translit=Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter-bund in Lite, Poy ...
, social
Zionists
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...
, and Jews during the Holocaust.
Biography
Levin was born on September 20, 1916 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, where she lived most of her life. She received her B.S. in education from
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...
. She served as the executive director of the Philadelphia Council of Pioneer Women, the women’s
Labor Zionist
Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
organization from 1948 to 1953.
She worked as a librarian and teacher and later became professor of history of
Gratz College
Gratz College is a private Jewish college in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origins to 1856 when banker, philanthropist, and communal leader Hyman Gratz and the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia (established in 1849 ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, where she was the founding director of the Holocaust
Oral History
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
Archive.Gratz web page about the Holocaust Oral History Archive description at th Archive Collections page; the collection in th USHMM catalogue /ref>
She also was a member of the Advisory Editorial Board of the ''Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe'' journal (OPREE) from its inception to her death.
Apart from various articles, Levin wrote three comprehensive books about her main topics as a historian: the Holocaust; Jewish socialist and labour movements; and Jewish life in Europe in general, with a focus on Eastern Europe.
Levin also served on the executive boards of the Soviet Jewry Council, the Philadelphia Jewish Community Relations Council, the
National Conference of Christians and Jews
The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures.
The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...
* ''The Holocaust : the destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945'' (1968; reprint in 1990 as ''The Holocaust years'')
* ''Jewish socialist movements, 1871-1917 : while Messiah tarried'' (1977)
* ''The Jews in the Soviet Union since 1917 : paradox of survival'' (two volumes) (1988/1989)
Articles by Levin are available on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive, including: “Tolerating the Nazis among us” ''Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility'', Vol. 9, no. 163 (1978) “Jewish social work, a rejoinder” ''Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility'', Vol. 9, no. 166 (1979) “Gratz Holocaust archive of Soviet Jews” ''Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility'', Vol. 20, no. 391 (1990)