Kaplan Chaim Aron 1880 (2 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. In Hebrew, vowelized. 149, (3) pages. 223 x 164 mm. Illustrated with 3 maps, c. 160 pictures and 8 tables. Pages yellowed. Some wear to spine. WorldCat: Libraries worldwide that own item: 3. Chaim Aron Kaplan was an educator and diarist of the Holocaust. He was born in Gorodishche, Belarusm received a talmudicl education at the famous yeshivah of Mir and later studied at the Government Pedagogical Institute in Vilna. In 1902 he settled in Warsaw, where he founded a pioneering elementary Hebrew school, of which he was principal for 40 years. The school was known as "the Sixth Grade Grammar Elementary School of Ch. A. Kaplan. He was an exponent of the direct method of language teaching, in which Hebrew was taught as a spoken language, using the Sephardi pronunciation. He did so despite strong opposition from exponents of traditional methods, he published several Hebrew textbooks advocating his method. An ardent Hebraist, he participated actively in the Society for Jewish Writers and Journalists in Warsaw, and contributed to many Hebrew and Yiddish periodicals. He visited the United States in 1921 and Eretz Israel in 1936l, intending to settle there in order to be with his two children who had emigrated there earlier, but was unable to obtain a position and returned to Warsaw. In 1937 he published a book in Hebrew called Pezurai, a collection of essays and articles on the Hebrew language and Jewish education that he had published during the 40 years of teaching. He also wrote Hebrew grammar and children's textbooks on Jewish history and customs. His Judaism seems to have been based on national and historic allegiance, rather than on traditional observance. Something of an introvert, he made books his friends and the walls of the academies his companions. At times he felt that his ambition to be independent was a primary obstacle to him in attaining leadership in the Warsaw community, and for that reason he was unable to develop his full talents and intellectual abilities. On the other hand, his being a respected member of the community gave him comfort. He began a personal diary in 1933. This trained him for the mission he undertook at the beginning of World War II, to devote all his efforts to preserving a record for posterity. The diary has been preserved, having been smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto before its total destruction. In 1942, when he knew that the Nazi noose was around his neck, he gave it to a Jewish friend named Rubinsztejn, who was working daily at forced labor outside the ghetto, returning each evening. Rubinsztejn smuggled the notebooks out one by one, handing them over to a Pole. During the most tragic days, in the midst of frenzied flight from one place to another, he felt himself obligated to quicken the pace of his work. He wrote several times a day in order to include every detail of the horror surrounding him.

Soft cover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. In Hebrew, vowelized. 165, (11) pages. 223 x 164 mm. Illustrated with 3 maps, c. 160 pictures and 8 tables. Pages yellowed and brittle. Some wear to spine. Title page detached. Book block separated from the softcover wrappers. WorldCat: Libraries worldwide that own item: 3. Chaim Aron Kaplan was an educator and diarist of the Holocaust. He was born in Gorodishche, Belarusm received a talmudicl education at the famous yeshivah of Mir and later studied at the Government Pedagogical Institute in Vilna. In 1902 he settled in Warsaw, where he founded a pioneering elementary Hebrew school, of which he was principal for 40 years. The school was known as "the Sixth Grade Grammar Elementary School of Ch. A. Kaplan. He was an exponent of the direct method of language teaching, in which Hebrew was taught as a spoken language, using the Sephardi pronunciation. He did so despite strong opposition from exponents of traditional methods, he published several Hebrew textbooks advocating his method. An ardent Hebraist, he participated actively in the Society for Jewish Writers and Journalists in Warsaw, and contributed to many Hebrew and Yiddish periodicals. He visited the United States in 1921 and Eretz Israel in 1936l, intending to settle there in order to be with his two children who had emigrated there earlier, but was unable to obtain a position and returned to Warsaw. In 1937 he published a book in Hebrew called Pezurai, a collection of essays and articles on the Hebrew language and Jewish education that he had published during the 40 years of teaching. He also wrote Hebrew grammar and children's textbooks on Jewish history and customs. His Judaism seems to have been based on national and historic allegiance, rather than on traditional observance. Something of an introvert, he made books his friends and the walls of the academies his companions. At times he felt that his ambition to be independent was a primary obstacle to him in attaining leadership in the Warsaw community, and for that reason he was unable to develop his full talents and intellectual abilities. On the other hand, his being a respected member of the community gave him comfort. He began a personal diary in 1933. This trained him for the mission he undertook at the beginning of World War II, to devote all his efforts to preserving a record for posterity. The diary has been preserved, having been smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto before its total destruction. In 1942, when he knew that the Nazi noose was around his neck, he gave it to a Jewish friend named Rubinsztejn, who was working daily at forced labor outside the ghetto, returning each evening. Rubinsztejn smuggled the notebooks out one by one, handing them over to a Pole. During the most tragic days, in the midst of frenzied flight from one place to another, he felt himself obligated to quicken the pace of his work. He wrote several times a day in order to include every detail of the horror surrounding him.