The Autobiography of Nahum Goldmann

Nahum Goldmann

1969

Negotiations with the Federal Republic of Germany

My negotiations with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and his associates, which culminated in the Luxembourg Agreement of 1952, make up one of the most exciting and successful chapters of my political career. From the beginning these negotiations were a subject of great ideological and emotional…

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Related Guide

Jewish Culture in Postwar Europe

1945–1973

As European Jewish communities tried to rebuild after the Holocaust, they faced new challenges and forged identities distinct from those in Israel and the United States.

Abstract painting of camp with many tents and a luminous rectangular area in middle featuring three figures including a mother and child and a clothesline between the tents.
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Postwar Jewish Life Writing

1945–1973

Life writing in the postwar period explored the Holocaust, displacement and migration, cultural identity, and the deteriorating situation of Jews behind the Iron Curtain.

Creator Bio

Nahum Goldmann

1895–1982

Zionist activist Nahum Goldmann was born in the Lithuanian shtetl of Visznevo (now Belarus). His family moved to Frankfurt when he was six years old, and he studied law and philosophy in Germany. Goldmann first visited Palestine in 1913 while working for the Jewish division of the German Foreign Ministry. He became a fervent Zionist and tried to enlist the Kaiser’s support for the movement. Goldmann was forced to flee Germany in 1934 and subsequently served as the liaison officer with the League of Nations for the Jewish Agency in Palestine. In 1940, he moved to the United States, where he directed the Jewish Agency in Washington, D.C. After the war, Goldmann returned to Europe and divided his time between Israel and Paris. He was involved in negotiating reparations with West Germany.

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