NEW YORK, New York – More than 150 guests were in attendance at YIVO’s gala honoring award-winning documentary filmmaker Roberta Grossman and Dr. Samuel Kassow, one of the world’s leading scholars on the Holocaust and the Jews of Poland. Kassow, who lives in West Hartford, is the Charles H. Northam Professor of History at Trinity College. 

Grossman directed the documentary film Who Will Write Our History based on the book of the same title by Kassow. The documentary, which will air this January on the Discovery Channel, tells the story of the heroic efforts of Emanuel Ringelblum and his compatriots, to document in real time the daily life and struggles in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Nancy Spielberg, the film’s executive producer, served as the evening’s master of ceremonies.

“With this film Kassow, Grossman, and Spielberg have also aided in YIVO’s mission to document, preserve, and disseminate the history of the Jewish people of Eastern Europe before, during, and after the war. Who Will Write Our History is a very important story that instills pride in our people by emphasizing their courage and determination,” said YIVO Executive Director and CEO Jonathan Brent.

Amongst those in attendance at the event were Consul General of Israel in New York Dani Dayan, Acting General Consul of Lithuania Gitana Skripkaitė, American women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, and Israeli American economist and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Stanley Fischer.

Main Photo: At the YIVO gala were (l to r) Jonathan Brent, Nancy Spielberg, Roberta Grossman, YIVO Board Chair Ruth Levine, and Dr. Samuel Kassow.