Uri J. Nachimson (born 1947) is an Israeli-Italian writer of Polish origin whose works focus on Jewish history, the Holocaust, and family memory.
Early life
Nachimson was born in Szczecin, Poland, in 1947, to Dr. David Nachimzon and Felicja Nachimzon (née Blumenkranc). His paternal grandmother was Ida Nachimzon (née Friedberg)Yad Vashem, Page of Testimony for Ida Nachimzon (née Friedberg), submitted by David Nachimson, Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem.. His father's family included the Hebrew writer Abraham Shalom Friedberg, identified in Nachimson's biographical work on his father as David Nachimson's great-grandfather.
His family later emigrated from Poland to Israel.. He later served as a military photographer in the Golani Brigade and took part in the Six-Day War on the Golan Heights. During his working life he was involved in writting and photography before turning increasingly to literary writing. He later settled in Tuscany, Italy, with his wife Quirien and his son Yarden.He is a father of three and a grandfather of seven.
Writing career
Nachimson has written historical and biographical works dealing with Jewish history, family memory, and the fate of Jewish communities in Poland and across Europe.
In 2019, the Italian news site Valdichiana Oggi published an interview with Nachimson about Lilly's Album, a book based on the life of his aunt Lilly Nachimson, who was born in Poland in 1915 and died in the Treblinka extermination camp. The article described the book as the first part of a trilogy followed by The Polish Patriot, about his father David Nachimzon, and Identity.
The Italian cultural website Ebraismo e Dintorni separately discussed The Polish Patriot and Lilly's Album..
Reception and recognition
Nachimson has been interviewed and discussed in Polish and Italian media, including Echo Dnia, Rzeczpospolita, Valdichiana Oggi, Panorama, and Ebraismo e Dintorni.
The Polish Patriot and Lilly's Album are listed among the sources of the Warsaw Ghetto database. The database identifies The Polish Patriot as a personal account written after the war and records Lilly's Album as a work based on the history of the Nachimson family.
The magazine Panorama included one of Nachimson's books in a list of books connected with Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In 2026, Nachimson's novel Kadosh, which had been entered in the unpublished works section, received joint fourth place in the 2025 edition of the Premio Letterario Internazionale “Il Narratore”..
Lilly’s Album is held in the collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Library.
The Polish Patriot is also held in the collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Library.
Works
The Polish Patriot (2014) Lilly's Album: Based on a True Story (2017) The Two Margheritas (2019) Broken Hearts on Boulevard Unirii (2016) Red Leather Shoes: The Beast of Auschwitz Had Found Her Prey. (2026) Rembrandt for Sale (2023) Seeds of Love: A True Story of Forbidden Love, Passion, and Destiny (2017) Isabella: A Forgotten Feminist Voice Between Zionism and the Bahá’í Revelation (2025) How We Studied in Italy: And Other Ways Not to Study (2026) Legacy of Shame: Secrets from a World War II Italian Village (2026) Kadosh: All Was Done in the Name of God (2026) The Cross and the Almond Tree: An Ancient Sicilian Tale of Forbidden Love (2025) Violette and Ginger: Based on Real Events (2021) Recalled to Life (2022) The Second Door (2026) Identity (2024) The Girl from Haukalolloo (2024) Fragments of Love (2024) In the Depths of Silence (2021) Deep Stains (2025)
References