birth_date: 1899-02-24 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.7
name: Jacob Presser
about: Jacob (Jacques) Presser was a Dutch historian, writer and poet, known for his book Ashes in the wind (The destruction of the Dutch Jews) on the history of the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands during World War II. Presser made a significant contribution to Dutch historical scholarship, as well as to European historical scholarship.Presser was born in the former Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. He attended the University of Amsterdam after finishing a commercial vocational college and having worked in an office for two years. At the University he studied history, art history, and Dutch. He graduated cum laude in 1926.In 1950, Presser received a commission from the Dutch government to produce a study about the fate of the Dutch Jews duri Jacob (Jacques) Presser was a Dutch historian, writer and poet, known for his book Ashes in the wind (The destruction of the Dutch Jews) on the history of the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands during World War II. Presser made a significant contribution to Dutch historical scholarship, as well as to European historical scholarship.Presser was born in the former Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. He attended the University of Amsterdam after finishing a commercial vocational college and having worked in an office for two years. At the University he studied history, art history, and Dutch. He graduated cum laude in 1926.In 1950, Presser received a commission from the Dutch government to produce a study about the fate of the Dutch Jews during the war. This would later become his historical masterpiece Ondergang [The destruction of the Dutch Jews]. He worked on this project for fifteen years, making full use of the vast archives of the Dutch Institute for War Documentation. The resulting work was a big best-seller in the Netherlands when it was published in 1965. It still is the main reference work on the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands under German occupation.Besides historical work, Presser also wrote works of literature. His book The Night of the Girondists, based on his war time experiences, received literary prizes, and became an international best-seller. ...more
death_date: 1970-04-30 00:00:00