Yaacov Lozowick
Yaacov Lozowick (Hebrew: יעקב לזוביק), born in 1957 in Bad Kreuznach, West Germany, is a German-born Israeli historian and writer. He directed the archives at Yad Vashem and later served as Israel’s Chief Archivist at the Israel State Archives from 2011 to 2018.
Education and early work
Lozowick trained as a tour guide in 1980 and earned a BA in history and Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1982. He also obtained a diploma in pedagogy (1984), a master’s in contemporary Judaism (1989), and a PhD in contemporary Judaism (1995). He worked as a class educator and history teacher at Himmelfarb High School for Boys in Jerusalem (1985–1990) and taught modern Jewish history at the World Union of Jewish Students Academy (1986–1989). He began his research career at Yad Vashem in 1982 and directed Seminars for Educators from Abroad from 1989 to 1993, organizing the first German-language seminars.
Archivist leadership and digitization
From 1993 to 2007 Lozowick led the Archives at Yad Vashem. He has been a vocal advocate for digitizing the national archives and for transferring government documentation to the people, arguing that broad public access strengthens Israeli democracy. He runs an English-language blog about archive material available online.
Publications and views
In 2003 he published Right to Exist: a Moral Defense of Israel’s Wars, which applies Just War theory to Israel’s conflicts. Contemporary Sociology described him as a long-time leftist and peace activist. Lozowick emphasizes making archival material accessible to the public to enrich discourse and democracy.
2017 report
In 2017 he released a report criticizing procedures for releasing files and the changes in those procedures.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:51 (CET).