Léon Poliakov

Who was Léon Poliakov?

Léon Poliakov was a French historian who wrote extensively on the Holocaust and antisemitism.

Born into a Russian Jewish family, Poliakov lived in Italy and Germany until he settled in France.

He co-founded the Centre de documentation juive contemporaine, established to collate documentation relating to the persecution of Jews during World War II. He also assisted Edgar Faure at the Nuremberg Trial. Poliakov went on to serve as director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research from 1954 until 1971.

According to historian Jos Sanchez, Poliakov was the first scholar to critically assess the disposition of Pope Pius XII toward various issues connected to the Holocaust. In November 1950, Poliakov wrote "The Vatican and the 'Jewish Question' - The Record of the Hitler Period-And After," in the influential Jewish journal Commentary. While this article was the first to consider the attitude of the papacy during World War II and the Holocaust, it was not until 1963, when German playwright Rolf Hochhuth published his play Der Stellvertreter that discussion of Poliakov's initial investigations in this area took on worldwide significance.