Abraham Polak

Abraham Nahum Polak (sometimes referred to as A. N. Polak or Poliak; born 2 September 1910, died 5 March 1970) was an Israeli historian, a professor at the Tel Aviv University since its inception, professor of medieval history and founder of the department of Middle-Eastern History.

His main areas of research were Jewish history, Arab history, nations of Islam and Africa and the history of the Khazars.

Polak was born in Ochakiv, a small city in the southern part of the Russian Empire.

There is little information on his early years or his family.

In 1923 he emigrated to Mandatory Palestine with his mother, Miriam Mindel (born Serebreni) and his elder brother, Menashe Polak.

The family settled in the city of Haifa where Polak also attended high-school between the years 1924–1929 at the Hebrew Reali School.

In 1930 Polak moved to Jerusalem where he studied at the Hebrew University.

Between 1930 and 1931 he also studied Biblical History at the École Biblique in Jerusalem.

Even as a student, Polak published numerous articles in the daily newspaper Davar, such as: "Israel Under the Crusaders Rule", "How the Land of Israel was Abandoned", "National Minorities in Iraq and The New Arab Literature".

In 1934 he received his MA in "Culture of Islam" and went on to write his thesis on the subject of the History of Land Relationships in Egypt, Syria and Israel during the late Middle Ages and in Modern Times, under the guidance of Professor Leo Aryeh Mayer.

The first - "National Revolutions in Egypt at the times of the Mamluks and their Economic Causes", was published in 1934 in the Parisian magazine Revue des Études Islamiques and by 1938 three more articles by him were published there.

He was awarded his PhD in 1936.

Research articles by Polak often appeared in foreign publications.

In 1937 he also became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society in London and in 1939 he received the society's award for his research on Feudalism in the Middle East, which later that year was published in London as a book.

In their decision, members of the award committee noted that "Dr. Poliak has set out to write a concise account of the feudal systems in Egypt, Syria, Palestine and the Lebanon...This monograph is of great interest and is full of interesting suggestions and notes."

In 1941 Polak published the article "The Khazars' Conversion to Judaism".

Up until then, the culture of the Khazars was outside the scope of Polak's research but evidently, this article led him to delve deeper into this topic and in 1943 he published his book Khazaria: History of a Jewish Kingdom in Europe.

In his book, Polak asserted that the Khazars were the demographic foundation of the Jews who inhabited Eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages and who later evolved into the Ashkenazi Jewry.

For this book, Polak was awarded in 1943 the Bialik Prize for Jewish Thought by the city of Tel Aviv.

The book was said to be of "...great historic value...which sheds new light on the obscure subject of the Khazars' Kingdom and is important to the history of the Jews and the country".

(See "Polak and the Khazars" below)

Following the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, Polak was enlisted to the IDF and began his service in the Cultural Services Unit, which later became part of the Education and Youth Corp.

(1952), "an extraordinary man with special skills and talents" (1958), "...a remarkable person in many aspects and one who can not be defined in conventional terms, he possesses a deep intellect and amazing analytical capabilities" (1959).

All throughout his service, Polak continued to publish numerous books within the IDF publishing center, such as: Geopolitics of Israel and the Middle East, The Naval Potential of the Arab States, The Struggle for the Road to Jerusalem, Founding the State of Israel, Security Forces in the Judea Region, and many more.

In 1955 he was awarded the Kugel Award for Literary and Scientific Work by the city of Holon for his book The Bible and the National Social Movements.

In 1955, while still an officer in the IDF, Polak began giving lectures at the University Institute for Israeli Culture, which a year later was the core of the Humanities Department in the newly forming Tel Aviv University.

For 10 years he was "Chief Writer" in the Educational Publications Section and retired in 1959 with the rank of Major.

His superiors described Polak in various evaluations as being "...highly educated and with vast knowledge..."

Polak kept extensive connections with international organizations and was regularly invited to participate in professional conferences all over the world, such as: the International Congress of Historians (Stockholm 1960), International Congress of Orientalists (Brussels 1938, Moscow 1960, New Delhi 1964), the Parliament of the World's Religions (Calcutta 1964) and in numerous events of the World Congress of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem 1947, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1969).

Polak was also a member of the International African Institute (IAI) in London.

Polak never married or had a family of his own.

Between 1961 and 1966 Polak served as professor of history of the Middle Ages and founded and directed the Department of Middle-Eastern Studies.

Later on, he also taught in the Department of Developing Countries and devoted his research to the history of Jews, Arabs and other Muslim and African nations.

Late in his life, Polak was to refer to the issue of the Khazars only once again, when in 1969 he gave a speech on that topic at the World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

His book Khazaria: History of a Jewish Kingdom in Europe was groundbreaking, not only due to the comprehensive approach to the issue of the Khazars, but specifically because for the first time, Islamic sources were used.

These sources were essentially unknown to researchers in the west and were uncovered by Polak through his work which was based on Arab, Persian and Kurd authors.

In his book, Polak presented two important, albeit controversial assumptions - the first considered a non-Middle-Eastern origin for most of the Eastern-European Jews; the second, saw the birth of the Yiddish language in Crimea and not in Germany, as was previously believed.

He died in his home in Tel Aviv on March 5, 1970, at the age of 59.

He is buried in Holon Cemetery.

To this date, Polak is renowned mainly due to his book on the history of the Khazars, although his vast research before and after the publication of this book, was devoted to other areas of interest.