1860 CE: SIMON DUBNOW BORN

[b. 1860, Belarus; murdered 1933, Rumbula, Riga, Latvia Nazi massacre]

Prominent Jewish historian of recent times. He wrote two separate histories: “History of the Jews” and “History of the Jews of Russia and Poland.” He believed that the Jews had a cultural autonomy within other nations, and therefore should all speak Yiddish as a common language. Dubnow also encouraged Sholem Aleichem in his writing. Dubnov was killed by the Nazis in Riga, Latvia in December 1941.

– Eli Birnbaum