Dan Nimrod papers
Collection Scope and Content
This collection contains correspondence, publications, newspaper clippings, speeches, legal documents, photographs, audiotapes, and videotapes. The material dates from ca. 1950-2002, although the bulk is from 1977-2002. They are the papers of Jacob Dan Nimrod, largely from the time he resumed his writing career in 1977 until his death in 2002. The material in the collection covers the wide range of Nimrod's political writing activities, mainly concerning Israeli politics and foreign relations. Other topics include apartheid in South Africa and the civil war in Nicaragua. It also includes the writings he saved of some of his correspondents.
Nimrod's estate donated the material to The George Washington University following Nimrod's death in 2002. The correspondence is arranged by the country of the correspondent. Within each correspondence series, it is arranged in alphabetical order by individual correspondent or organization, except for general folders such as "Special Interest" and "Organizations." Within each folder, the correspondence is sorted chronologically. Nimrod's estate also included cross-references in many of the folders.
The collection also contains the papers of Sol Modell, a frequent correspondent of Nimrod's and a former professor of history at Los Angeles Valley College. Upon Modell's death, his family donated the papers to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, where Modell had retired. The university transferred them to Nimrod, who included them with his papers donated to The George Washington University.
Dates
- 1938-2002
Restrictions on Access
Some records may be restricted.
Restrictions on Use
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Biographical Note
Jacob Dan Nimrod (1923-2002) was a Polish-Israeli-Canadian political commentator, active in various Zionist causes.
Born in what is today the Ukraine (then part of Poland) in 1923, Dan Nimrod, originally named Ya'acov Hebel, was active in the Zionist movement from a young age. At age 15, he migrated across Europe on foot to reach what was then British Mandatory Palestine.
At the outbreak of World War II, Nimrod enlisted in the British Army's Jewish Palestinian Unit and served in North Africa. He successfully defended himself against desertion charges, which arose when he joined the Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization). In 1944, Irgun began fighting British authorities for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. At war's end, Nimrod served as Irgun's commander in several European countries, joining its general staff in 1947. He also directed the organization's public information service in Eastern Europe and worked to acquire weapons in France.
On May 14, 1948, Israel officially declared its independence. Almost immediately, several surrounding Arab countries attacked. Nimrod fought in the subsequent war (1948-49) while continuing his work to supply the Jewish State with weapons from Europe. After the war ended, Nimrod served on the central committee for the Israeli nationalist party Herut (which later formed part of the Likud Party) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). In 1949, Nimrod married his first wife, Esther Grachanek, who later passed away from natural causes. During the early 1950s, Nimrod remained active in Israeli politics, regularly penning columns under the name Ya'acov Lotan.
In 1956, Nimrod emigrated to Canada. He initially settled in Newfoundland, but later moved to Montreal. He initially served as a principal at a Jewish school but later became an independent teacher of Hebrew. Nimrod married Anita Affholter, originally from Switzerland, in 1961.
Nimrod resumed his writing career anew in 1977, after his old friend, Menachem Begin, was elected prime minister of Israel. He founded the Canadian Jewish Herald, a compendium of articles relating to Israeli politics, to counter what he saw as attacks on Begin and the Likud Party in other media.
Nimrod formed the self-financed Dawn Publishing Company as part of that effort in 1979. Over the next 23 years, he edited, authored, or compiled 62 books, newspapers, monographs, magazines, anthologies, position papers, and special dossiers, and corresponded with people around the world as part of his campaigns.
In 2000, Nimrod donated his library of over 2,500 volumes and his extensive archives to The George Washington University. He desired to present a "different perspective" on the Arab-Israeli conflict to researchers in the capital of the United States.
Nimrod died in Montreal on April 22, 2002.
Extent
27.5 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Collection contains correspondence, publications, newspaper clippings, speeches, legal documents, photographs, audiotapes, and videotapes. The material dates from ca. 1950-2002, although the bulk is from 1977-2002. They are the papers of Jacob Dan Nimrod, largely from the time he resumed his writing career in 1977 until his death in 2002. The material in the collection covers the wide range of Nimrod's political writing activities, mainly concerning Israeli politics and foreign relations. Other topics include apartheid in South Africa and the civil war in Nicaragua. It also includes the writings he saved of some of his correspondents.
Collection Organization
Organized into 12 series: Correspondence - Israel; Correspondence - Canada; Correspondence - Germany; Correspondence - United Kingdom; Correspondence - United States; Correspondence - Other Countries; Biographical Information - Prominent Correspondents; Publications, Book Reviews and Promotional Materials; Biographical Information - Nimrod; Sol Modell, papers; Ephemera.
Acquisition Information
In 2000, Nimrod donated his library of over 2,500 volumes and his extensive archives to The George Washington University.
Reparative Description Projects
This finding aid was revised in March 2023 to address harmful descriptive language. During that revision, staff edited the Collection Abstract, Scope and Contents Note, and the Scope and Contents Notes of Series 1, 4, 5, and 6. To see the description prior to revisions, please view the previous version of the Dan Nimrod papers .
- Apartheid Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Arab-Israel conflict Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Audiotapes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Canada Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Dawn Publishing Company
- Horwin, Leonard
- Irgun tsevai leumi Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Israel Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Israel -- Foreign policy Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Israel -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Israel -- Politics and government Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Israel-Palestinian conflict Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jewish-Arab relations Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Modell, Solomon
- Montréal (Québec) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Nimrod, Dan
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- South Africa Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Videotapes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Zionism Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Zionists Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Zionists -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Dan Nimrod papers, 1938-2002
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
- Date
- 2007
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Repository
