Yaacov Lozowick


Yaacov Lozowick , is a German-born Israeli historian and writer. He was the director of the archives at Yad Vashem. Currently he is Israel's Chief Archivist at the Israel State Archives.

Biography

Yaakov Lozowick was born in 1957 in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. In 1980, he gained qualifications as a tourist guide. In 1982, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1984 he obtained a diploma in pedagogy and in 1989 a master's degree in contemporary Judaism from the Hebrew University. In 1995, he completed his doctorate in contemporary Judaism at Hebrew University.

Professional career

In 1990, Lozowick worked as a history teacher at Himmelfarb high school for boys in Jerusalem.
In 1986-1989, he taught modern Jewish history at World Union of Jewish Students Academy. He worked as a researcher at Yad Vashem from 1982, and served as director of Seminars for Educators from Abroad from 1989 to 1993. At the suggestion of Austrian political scientist Andreas Maislinger, he organized the first German-language Seminars for Educators from Abroad.
From 1993 until 2007 he served as the director of the Archives at Yad Vashem.
Lozowick's 2003 book is an attempt to apply Just War theory to Israel's wars. Lozowick was described by Contemporary Sociology as a "long time leftist and peace activist."
Lozowick is currently Israel's chief archivist, working at the Israel State Archives. Lozowick has been part of the efforts to digitize the national archives, the role of which he describes is "to transfer the documentation of the government to the possession of the governed". He has explains that "since much of the content is both fascinating and relevant to most aspects of society's life, enabling the citizens to have free and easy access to their documentation—within the obvious constraints—will enrich the public discourse and strengthen Israeli democracy." As part of this process Lozowick maintains an English language blog highlighting material made available online by the archive.

Published works